Re:Zero - Modernizing Another World
by RedoxPete
Summary: It was 2 years since Saito's and Louise's wedding. In that time, Halkeginia has been advancing rapidly in modern technology, all thanks to Saito. A peace treaty was signed between the elves and the humans, restoring peace to the land once again. While walking around, the Zero no Tsukaima crew were teleported to the Re:Zero world. Will modern tech save the day? Or will it be pain?
1. The Rapid Developement of Tristain

" _It was this day, when the elven lands of Nephthys and the human land of Halkegnia was forever changed by the hero that saved all of us, Saito Hiraga. That was the same day, when he gather to tell us about this technology that would forever change our lives and the way we think about things. We thought of nothing at first. But then, Saito showed us what this can do. That was the moment where both elves and the humans of this world became interested in a foreign technology that was completely had us baffled by the amazing things that it has done for us. "_

 _Bidashal_

It was that time of the events in Halkegenia, after the Ancient Dragon was defeated, thanks to the combined efforts of both humans and elves. These two races, a race well known for being each other's longtime enemies, threw their differences aside to combat a common enemy. After the slaying of the Ancient Dragon, Saito proposed to Louise, and she accepted. A wedding was arranged, and there were numerous people from all over Halkegenia. People such as Henrietta, the Queen of Tristain, Tabitha, the Queen of Gallia, Tiffania, the half-elf and cousin of Henrietta. Lastly, there was elves such as Ari, who was attending the wedding along with Luctiana. As usual, she was gathering research for what a "human wedding" is like. For her, research has always been an integral part of her life. Ever since she was little, she wanted to know all about the humans. Were they truly savages, always wanted to disgrace her elven bloodline, and threaten to invade their homeland? When she first took Tiffania and Saito for research purposes, she wanted to observe the interactions between a human and an elf. It turns out however, that both Tiffania and Saito got along really well. This was something that threw Luctiana off. She had heard countless stories about humans being savages. Well, it turns out the complete opposite. They were actually kind, but due to her habits, she still occasionally let it slips by calling humans the word "savages". Ari was the same as well. His stands on humans have changed as well, seeing them as equals. As a result, his prejudice against humans have disappeared ever since Luctiana showed him the human wedding, which soon concluded. Both Louise and Saito then left to the carriage to go off on their honeymoon.

Luctiana looked at Ari. "Well, I feel quite happy for them. These savages are quite similar to us, don't you think? Their wedding is quite similar to us, with the fact that we have several additional rituals that we have to complete in order to seal the knot." Ari turned to look at his future-to-be wife. "I guess so. Perhaps I was being too judgmental on the humans. Especially when I began to interact with Gusiche about his troubles with woman. Turned out that we were one and the s-." That was Luctiana kicked Ari in embarrassment. "You better not do that again, or else I am calling off the marriage. Tee hee, just kidding. This was a good day today. We ended up defeating the Ancient Dragon that threatened the existence of both humans and elves. I won't be surprised if we see a peace treaty signed between the elves and the humans over the next several days."

Ari looked at the blue sky that covers Tristain. It was basically cloudless, with the sun rays piecing him at about at 60 degree angle. It was in the afternoon, with the defeat of the dragon being a day ago. It symbolized a new area that was about to begin between the elves and the humans. And for the first time, the assumptions of Luctiana were correct. While Louise and Saito were busy on their honeymoon in Saito's world (which was in the year of 2018), Henrietta offered a peace/alliance treaty to the nation of elves, the Nephthan Elven Council accepted the alliance as gratitude for defeating the Ancient Dragon. This marked that for the first time in Halkegenia history, there was a treaty between human and elves. At first, both the human race and elven race were not sure of the treaty, but as time progressed, they became accustomed to it. Soon, the other nations of Halkegenia followed in with the alliance as well. Meanwhile, Saito and Louise have arrived from their honeymoon in Japan. Around that same time, Saito had a thought. _"If Louise can bring that World Gate here, then I can bring in modern tech to Tristain! Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I am basically giving radio to the Romans. In other words, I want to be the one to make Tristain more modernized. I know that we have several mages that have duplication magic. This may require help from the elves. Now, if we can enchant the tech so that it can receive signals from Earth, we will be able to make history. The second thing I want to do is introduce the concept of electricity, and make Tristain run on that, since it is more efficient. For that, we will need an electric motor that will never run out of charge. Basically, an infinitely charging device. Finally, I want to introduce motor vehicles. These things that came from my world are much, much faster than the carriages that Henrietta currently uses. Motorcycles for example, can exceed speeds of 150 MPH, if the driver is careful. I should consult with my wife Louise first before going with the idea. Maybe she will think that doing this is a bad idea in the first place. Well, I might as well give it a shot. So that I can do what no other protagonist has done, bring modern tech to a fantasy world."_

 ** _A new idea_**

With that, Saito went to Louise and tugged on her arm. This was after they have gotten back from their honeymoon using Louise's World Gate ability. Back in Japan, Louise was amazing at the things that Saito had in his world. Things such as computers, which were super thin and ultra-fast in 2018. It was something that Louise had never seen before in her life. To her, she thought it was some form of magic. The same thing goes with the smartphone. When she first got to Saito's world, she was interested in how people were able to alter a screen, just by merely swiping their hand, or making gestures. It wasn't just one person either, pretty much everyone was on this one device. Louise looked at Saito as a result from him pulling on her arm. "Saito, is there something that you need? I'm here to support you all the way. We finally have peace at last." Saito replied in his typical eager voice. "Louise, I think we can modernize your world, and have some of the things that my world has. Would you like to hear what I am going to do? This is going to be quite lengthy, so be prepared." Louise simply nodded and gave him the green light to start speaking.

"Do you remember the computer stuff and smartphone stuff I showed you in my world, Louise? I think it may be possible to bring those things to your world." Saito at this point was sitting at the porch of his mansion, along with Louise. She thought about it for a moment. How nice it would to have those same things in her world. On Earth, Saito explained to Louise what these devices could do. The thought of having instant communication to Henrietta, to be able to watch some form of entertainment, and to play video games with her longtime friend and having fun together was something that she wanted. With the possibility of this new tech, Louise would be able to connect with her from far away. In addition, she also thought about the benefits that this new thing may bring to the normal citizens of Tristain, as well as the elves. Everyone needs a downtime to recover from working pretty much the entire day, and these tech devices would be a huge boon. Louise agreed that these things would be helpful. "That is what I was thinking as well, but how are we going to get these things to work, let alone operate. We speak the same language, but the way that it is written is in your language. Also, we need that thing you call 'electricity' to make things work. The only way I can see if this is possible is to combine a small portion of my World Door power with Elven magic to make this even work. But I want it to work Saito. I want to watch the thing that you call 'anime'. I want to go on this 'internet' to talk with people in an instant. I also want to have those 'smartphones' in this world Saito."

Saito nodded. He knew that this was possible, but he had to come up with a game plan. "Louise, this is what we are going to do. We are going to first introduce electricity, using an electric motor that we will be enhanced with elven magic and your void magic. This means that we will get unlimited electric power, which would be huge leap. This also means implementing wiring as well to get all of the houses in Tristain with LED and florescent lights, along with the streets. Also, this is when we are going to incorporate power outlets into every single home in Tristain. My goal is to get this done in around one mouth. We definitely have mages that can do this sort of thing quickly, so that would be our first goal. In the next mouth, we will be entering the actual tech phrase. Louise, the thing we call, 'TV', and 'computers' will be introduced next. Also, we will be introducing the Internet around this time. In the third month, we will be introducing smartphones. Don't worry, Bidashal has already told me that it is possible to combine elven enhancement magic to do this with your World Door magic. Lastly, we will be introducing motor vehicles and implementing them over the next two years. As you have seen Louise, these things can go much faster than your carriages that you guys used. It may still be a medieval era, but it's going to become more modernized like my place. Sounds like a good plan Louise? If so, we are going to talk to Agnes and set up an appointment with Henrietta to show case this. Both Bidashal and Luctiana agreed to participate in this, as I was talking to him about this while you were napping in the real world. I surely can't wait for this to become a reality!"

Louise looked at him and nodded the green light for Saito. By now, the sun was starting to set into the hill, with the darkness overtaking the sky once again. In that time, Saito and Louise ate in the dining room of their mansion. Both of them had a broth like soup that they were eating. Saito was eating beef stew, while Louise decided to go the vegan route and went with the vegetable soup. After they cleaned their palette, they began talks on how to introduce something that Saito's world has never seen or heard of in the first place. However, since Saito knows that there are translation spells in their world, as shown when Louise blasted him with one when he first arrived from Japan. So Saito asked Louise what language they actually spoke, and Louise told him that it was known as 'French' in her world. That made things a whole lot easier for Saito. As the moon rises over Tristain, they both sit on the chairs, looking at the stars that filled the sky. For Saito, he has always wanted to get a good view of the night sky, but he lived in Tokyo, most of the street lights dimmed down the view. Louise was doing the same thing as well. These two newlyweds, their bonds that have been strengthened over the course of Saito's stay. Who knew that one day, Louise's familiar would become her husband? No one could have seen that from the beginning. Hours passed, and the moon continues to rise higher to the sky. Saito and Louise taking a shower, then kissing each other good night, sleeping in the newly bought queen-sized bed.

It was now morning, three hours before lunchtime. Louise and Saito woke up. The first one was Saito, followed by Louise, who was the heavier sleeper. She woke up about 15 minutes after Saito. "Good morning, Louise." Saito said as he rubbed her long, soft pink hair. Louise, still groggy, rubbed her eyes for a moment. "S…..Saito….." For a few moments, she laid in bed. It wasn't until Saito pushed her again, that she fully waked up. They both stretched, then made their way downstairs for breakfast. That was when Saito asked Louise if he could bring the electric generator from his world, along with a lamp, to demonstrate. Louise nodded. "Saito, we'll need the World Door first to get those two things. They at your home, right? Your parents, they have them?" Saito nodded. "Yes, they have those things. I bought an electric generator for that purpose, since elven magic can greatly change their capabilities." So once they were both done eating their breakfast, Saito and Louise opened the World Door to get both the lamp and the electric generator, to show to Henrietta. They arrive back in Louise's world a few moments later, the blue cubed shaped generator on the right, and the lamp on the left. Saito and Louise then went to dress up in their usual attire and outfit. Louise got everything, except her pendant. "Darn! Where did I put that thing? I must have dropped it somewhere." Saito, noticing that Louise was looking for something, told her one place where she might find the pendant. "Louise, have you tried checking under your bed? Maybe it fell there." With that, Louise went back upstairs, and eventually found it where Saito suggested. "Thanks Saito! I found it with your help." Louise said with her 'dere' face. She went back downstairs and hugged Saito in the chest. Saito simply responded by rubbing her hair, followed by another kiss to the lips. There, they checked around the mansion for about an hour to make sure that everything was tidy. Suddenly, they heard a knock from the mansion door. Saito went forward to open the door, and there, it was four figures. The first three was the usual, Bidashal, Luctiana, and Tiffania. However, there was one that Saito didn't recognize. The person was definitely an elf, but he was unlike any elf that Subaru had seen before. His pointy ears were much more angled up than the other three. Saito also noticed that this elf had silver hair with amethyst eyes. He was about 6'0 tall, and wears white and purple clothes with purple lines. But, the most striking thing to Saito is that his neck, and his two shoulders have that yellow eagle insignia in each side. That made Saito think that this elf may have come from one of the royal families in Nephthys. This unknown person, noticing that both Saito and Louise were confused by his appearance and looks when compared to other elves, gave them a warm smile, signaling his naturally good and warm personality.

"I see that the two of you are confused by my looks. Fear not, I am also here to assist you with the exhibition that you will be showing to Henrietta in a few hours from now. My name is Theo. I have been living in Nephthys for quite some time now. Shall we get things ready, Louise-san and Saito-san? Agnes has already prepared the carriage to go to Tristain's Capital." The elf looked to the couple for a response. Louise raised her hand for the go ahead. "We have everything that we need, so Saito and I are ready to move out." Bidashal and Luctiana went ahead and grabbed the electronic motor and the lamp respectively. They went outside, and put it in the back carriage. They had to wiggle it in place due to the trunk's smaller size. Eventually, the both got it in. Luctiana called out to the couple who were still standing at the foot of the mansion's entrance. "Louise, Saito, the carriage is ready! Let's make way to the capital!" It took both of them several minutes to board the carriage. When it was done, the door was closed, and the carriage began to pull away from the mansion, with the drive being one of Henrietta It drew further and further away until it was no longer visible. Saito, being the curious man that he is, wanted to know about Theo's origins. "Theo, from the looks of your clothes, and features, I think it is safe to say that you did not come from this world. The elves here clearly have different features than you." Theo slowly nodded his head. "Unfortunately, that assumption you made is true. I was not originally from Nephthys. Rather, the same thing happened to me, as did to Saito." This resulted in both Saito, Louise, Tiffania, and Luctiana gasping in shock, while Bidashal simply nodded his head, because he was told by Theo a long time ago. "Y.Y..You are not from this world at all?" Luctiana said in disbelief. Theo shook his head as he turned to look at the partly cloudy skies that loomed ahead. "No. I was originally from the Elior Forest in Lugnica, a place that does not exist in this world. I am 357 years old. That place was the only place where elves lived. And that was also the place where I fell in love with a human. We ended up marrying each other. Tiffania, the half-elf, looked at Theo. "So, Theo-san, does that mean you had a child?" A smile emerged from Theo, "Yes…..yes I did. I had one child." Saito and Louise looked at Tiffania. Her face turned slightly pink. "Uh…ahem…..Theo-san. In other words, your child is a half-elf like me?" Theo's smile persisted. He responded directly to TIffania. "That's right. She is a half-elf like you. I had only her as my daughter." Theo went back to look at the forest and trees that they pass by as they make their way closer to the capital of Tristain.

Louise could imagine her having Saito as a father and having a family. But she was not even close to be ready for that. It was only a couple of days since her honeymoon with Saito. Louise though, wanted to know the name of Theo's daughter. "Theo, what is your daughter's name?" Louise asked, making sure not to be too forceful. There was no answer from Theo for several minutes. Apparently, he was busy looking at the plains of Tristain, its beautiful grass, stretching for as far as the eye can see, with the forest in the distance. Eventually, Theo turned back to the entire crew. "My daughter's name…her name is Emilia. I have always been thinking about her every day, from the moment that I arrived in this world." Tiffania could symphonize, as she mostly grew up without her parents, especially when her mother left a cabin for her to live in. She grew up all alone, so she realize that must have been hard on Emilia as well. "Theo-san, you do miss her lot, don't you? Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that she is still alive. By now, I think she has grown into a beautiful girl." That comment from Tiffania made Theo a little teary. He tried to resist it, but a single drop fell from his eyes onto the floor. His voice, slightly quavering, responded back in a timely fashion. "I'm pretty sure of it too. I miss her every single day, for the past 107 years. I don't know what happened to my wife, or to Emilia in that time period….but I hold on to the hope every day that she and my wife are still alive. That hope…..I let it refuse to die!" Theo looked back out once again, the tears flowing from his eyes. Saito looked at him, and noticed that his face had the face of someone who was regretting something. He patted Theo's arm. "Anyone else from Elior that you know?" Saito waited for Theo to cool down for a bit. Once Theo regained some of his composure, he continued. "There is three people…that I know. One was my sister, Fortuna. As you may expect, she has the same silver hair and purple eyes that I have. The second is Arch, who is one of our good friends, and lastly, Geuse, who was close friends with my sister. Oh, and I forgot to mention. I have a hidden power, and it is something that I have kept secret for a long time. It's what I call the ability to give someone powers, but it comes at a price. That is why I never use it on people that don't want it."

Louise was curious. "Price? What do you mean it comes at a price?" Theo cleared his throat before replying. "Sorry, I should clarify. I can specifically pick what power that person gets. However, I can't control the side effects of getting those powers. It depends on the person. These effects are completely random." Louise took some time process what she heard. She hasn't heard anything like this before. Not in Tristain, or Halkegenia. But then again, she doesn't know what the elves use. Bidashal's magic was one of the most powerful there is, and that took a negation type spell from that book to counter it. Who knows what some of the elves can do. Luctiana finally began to talk once again. She was interested in what Saito brought from Earth. "Saito. That thing there, made by the savages. That thing you called a 'lamp' and 'electric generator'. What does it exactly do again?" As this world was different from Saito, she had never seen a contraption like that ever before. Even having one look at it made her dumbfounded. Despite that, Luctiana would be interested in doing some researching regarding to this device. To think that her people that called humans 'savages', were making something like this was unthinkable. For Saito, these two devices were everyday things in his world. To make it easier from Luctiana to understand, Saito used the stuff from their world to compare. "Basically, the generator is like the oil that you guys use to power your lanterns. And that generator is used to power the lamp. The good thing about this is that we can dedicate the oil to other, more useful purposes." Bidashal nodded. He had the elven magic to make certain things have unlimited energy. "This should be an easy one to do as well, since we have used elven magic to generate unlimited energy sources. That is how we power some stuff in Nepthys. If possible, Saito, we can get this thing to work and start mass producing this product in Tristain to be distributed all over the country, and even get some to my home country as well. But first, we'll need to make it to Henrietta's palace." During this time, the group was getting closer and closer to the capital. Buildings started to pop up around the crew, on both sides. A few houses at first, but as minutes went by, the density of the housing increased, along with some commercial buildings. As they make their approach, Theo spoke for the first time in 30 minutes. He was busy looking at the partly cloudy skies that cover Tristain. _"I don't know if she is even still alive, somewhere in my world. Somewhere, she is still alive. I must…I must know where she is. But….I can't"_ After wallowing in his thoughts, he spoke to Saito: "If this experiment works Saito, this could be the biggest breakthrough that this world has ever faced. You could be the one that starts this massive revolution of replacing everything that we use for better, more efficient ones. That is, if this experiment works and we can replicate it somehow."

Finally, the carriage arrived into the capital of Tristain. Markets loomed on both sides, with the citizens buying stuff such as fruits, meats, and bread. In one corner, there was a weapons shop. It was all too familiar to Saito. This was where Saito got his first sword, which was Derflinger. Unfortunately, that sword was destroyed, but Derflinger still lives on through Saito's weapons. This here was Theo's third time at the capital of Tristain. He is still learning new things as he goes along. New shops, new people too. He even started to see elves mingle with people out in the streets as well, something that would be impossible in Tristain before. Theo has been here for 107 years, and he found out about Brimir and the gods that the elves worship also. It reminded of his home back then. Eventually, they reached the river that separates the main town from Henrietta's royal palace. _"The royal palace for Tristain is quite elegant in its design. Perhaps I should look for something like this in Lugnica. Of course, I'll never get there anyway."_ The carriage soon crawled down to a halt. There, waited Agnes, who was on guard as usual, and Henrietta's guard. "You're all here. Get the stuff out. I'll escort you to the entrance. Henrietta is waiting for your scheduled appointment." The crew nodded, and all of them got out, one by one. First it was Saito that came out, followed by Louise and Tiffania. Theo, the silver haired elf, came out next. He looked behind him to see Luctiana and Bidashal coming out. They then walked to the back of the truck to get both of the electric generator and the lamp. By now, it was around 10:30 AM, with the sun steadily making its way up into the blue sky. The party of six made their way to the palace's entrance. Theo, his first time in the palace, admired its design. There are numerous guard posts laying around, and some members of the Musketeer Patrol roaming around as well. _"Fortuna and my daughter would have loved to live in a place like this."_ Theo chuckled in his thoughts. But before he could continue to daydream, Queen Henrietta was waiting. Louise went forward to hug her longtime friend, while the four smiled as the two started talking. Saito, knew that these two go all the way back when Louise was a kid, since she told him that in the early days of him being a familiar to her. He immediately shook his head.

 _ **Henrietta's Castle**_

"Louise, how did your honeymoon go with Saito-san?" Henrietta asked. "Did Saito take you to a lot of places in Japan? It must have been really nice there." Louise had a slight pink tinge on her cheeks, the memories of her and Saito roaming around the streets of Tokyo, trying different foods like crepes. Louise also rode the subway train for the first time in that world, where she marveled at the speed of the train. To top it all off, the weather was nice all the time in Tokyo. Not one day was their rain. Louise, blushing at the thought, replied rather fondly: "Saito took me everywhere there. There was a lot of things that were new to me. Oh, and by the way, Saito has those two things that he mentioned that he wanted to show you. These elves here will help us, so it's up to you to show us the way where we can demonstrate Saito's tech." Henrietta looked at Saito, then at the elves, "Thank you for showing up, Saito-san, Tiffania, Theo, Bidashal, and Luctiana. We'll be going up to my office now. There should be enough room to set up this device." With those words, Queen Henrietta turned and led the six party crew through a flight of stairs. Along the way, photos of the royal family lined up the walls. Theo, a first timer in this castle, looked at the pictures of the royal family, with Henrietta being on the most right after she succeeded her mother following the battle against Albion. He didn't say anything, because he was careful not to say anything that was rude to the Queen of Tristain. As a child, he was a little on the quieter side, and preferred a laid-back life style. Although once you get to know him, Theo becomes a kind and well-endowed elf who is also good natured. Theo then looked to the skies, as the castle had numerous winds that allowed the natural light to penetrate into the castle interior. _"I hope that my daughter, has the heart of a pure angel, and helps other people. That is, if she is still around in Elior. I myself do not know where she is right now. These hands, this ability I have, can also duplicate objects. I have had this ability ever since I was a kid. I later discovered that these powers can also be stackable with magic enhanced items. Those magic enhanced items could then be duplicated by me. It also turns out this world uses an unlimited source of mana as well, something that my world doesn't have."_ As they make their way closer to Henrietta's office, Saito looked around. He had been here so many times before, ranging from the daring rescue in Galia, to the trip to the sacred Romalia. This was the place of numerous talks and chatter created by Louise. At last, Henrietta opened the door to her office, and it was stocked filled once again. Her desk was there, with three books in French on one side and two books on the other. Around the room, there is numerous gas lamps that lit up the room. Luctiana and Bidashal slowly dropped off both the electric generator and the lamp. They then made their way back a couple of steps. Henrietta walked over to the two devices to get a good look at them. She turned to Saito.

"So, these two things here. They actually work? Saito-san, can you try turning it on?" Henrietta asked. Theo went in and interrupted. "This will require the magic of Bidashal to convert this thing to an unlimited energy source. We have tried it on multiple things, and so far, things have been looking good. So from what I can tell, this should not be any different." Henrietta was thinking about it to herself as well. "Saito-san, can you explain what these two things are for?" Saito nodded and pointed at the electric generator. "That right there is called an electric generator. Its purpose is to make 'electricity' so that it can power the lamp, which is the other thing there." Luctiana was a little worried. Who knows, if Bidashal channeled too much magic at the same time, it could explode in the room and cause massive damage to Henrietta's palace. Louise also had the same concern as well. Eventually, Henrietta gave Bidashal the go ahead to start the process. He raised his hand, and out comes a greenish light, that was slightly transparent. This continued for several moments until Bidashal completes the process. _"Let's hope this thing works."_ Theo thought as he looked at the generator. At first, nothing happened. Then, the electric generator began to give off a green glow. Saito also saw that the battery indicator was to the max. There was even a LED sign that told Saito what is the change of the battery. It read an infinite sign. Saito couldn't believe it! This whim actually worked. Henrietta couldn't believe it as well. For the first time ever, history has been made at the palace. The first ever infinite, electrical elven generator. Saito step up and spoke what had just happened. "This right here, this is the birth of what I call magitek. Magitek means the combination of technology and magic. This is what will drive Tristain to become like Japan!" Luctiana wanted to take a closer look at this new device, which was glowing green with grace. "Wow. Look at that beauty right there! Bidashal, you had just made an amazing discovery! Imagine what we can do with the stuff from Saito's world." Tiffania on the other hand, was also curious as well. "Saito-san had just came up with bring something like this to our world. This is simply an amazing feat. I never thought that one day, we will be combining Saito's stuff with magic. Henrietta, what is your take on this?" Nothing came from Henrietta. She was just too shocked at the moment to comprehend on what had just happened in front of her. "I…..We need to do something about this. Um….." She looked at the clock now. It was now at noon, and lunch time was approaching. With that in mind, Henrietta decided to put the experiment on standstill to eat lunch with the crew. Saito's stomach agreed, as his was starting to rumble. Theo also heard his own stomach growl as well. _"Damn! I'm already hungry. Looks like not eating a lot for breakfast has really started to bite me in the butt."_ Henrietta looked at the six people that were in her office. "We are going to take a lunch break now, so please follow me downstairs. I'll notify one of the waiters to prepare the meal for today." With that, Henrietta walked past the elven electric generator and opened her office door. The party of six followed her back downstairs. Theo was the last one to exit, so he closed the door behind him. _"Simply unbelievable. Imagine how much less fuel we would have to waste in general. Besides, it is only a matter of time before we run out of the necessary resources to power the lamps that we use currently. I'm looking forward to see what Saito brings to this place. From what I can already tell, this guy is a great man. He'll be the one to push this place forward."_

As Theo continued to contemplate in his thoughts, Luctiana talked with Louise on possible plans to begin the conversion of the lamp to operate using the elven energy. "Louise, now that the generator thing is working, my uncle should be able to turn that lamp so that it gets its energy from whatever that thing Saito calls it. Not only that, but Saito claimed that the thing was a lot brighter than the lamps and candles that we currently use. I'm not so sure about that, but I have to see it for myself." Louise nodded as well. If this thing was going to be a lot brighter than her current stuff, then she would want it in her room in the Tristain School of Magic. Henrietta was telling the waiter what to cook, since he was waiting right by the dining room. He took the orders that Henrietta requested and soon took off to the cooking area. Up in front of the crew was two doors, decorated with royal symbols of Tristain with a touch of silver on both doors. Henrietta opened the door to reveal a spacious dining area. There were golden chandeliers that highlighted its prestige. In total, there were three of them. In the end, lies a fireplace, which was filled with bright red flames. To the left, there lies two windows that give a view of the courtyard. Henrietta found a seat, and so did the party of six. Louise spoke first. "Henrietta, if that lamp thing is successful, how are we going to mass produce this thing? We have never made something like this before, so do you have any budget to consider to build a building right here in the capital to make those things?" Tiffania the half-elf, nodded. "Louise-san is right. To make all of this stuff, there needs to be a place where we can make these things." Bidashal continued to observe, knowing that for this to be mass distributed, there needs to be a way to insert elven magic into the device. "Yes, we need to find a way to make this efficient as possible. Not only that, if we are going to start giving these to the public, the demand for them is going to go through the roof. We need a good transport system." Theo thought about this type of transportation. Back in his world, they used dragon carriages to get around, which is the same in this world as well. It is most likely going to be difficult getting these around. Henrietta, with her royal crown, waited for the drinks to come in. Eventually, after five minutes, the tea came in, with it being on top of a cart that is pulled by one of the servers. She was wearing the typical maid outfit that was worn in the palace. "As requested, Your Majesty. Here are the drinks." The maid gave everyone a cup of tea, followed by a kettle pot in the middle that was filled with the same type of tea. Both the empty cart and the maid then left the door. She made sure not to slam the door shut, as it was delicate.

They all took a sip of the tea, which was delicious to say the least. Saito though, forgot to blow on the hot tea before taking a sip. The result was a scolding hot mouth. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Saito yelped in pain. This earned him a punch from Louise as a result of putting himself in "danger" again. Henrietta on the other hand giggled in amusement. Tiffania, Luctiana, and Theo grinned at the boy's misfortune. Even Bidashal, who wasn't known to let out a smile, unconsciously let out a small one. Once Saito was done, turned to the others to continue what he was going to do. "If this actually works, we will be introducing new stuff from my world every three months." Theo was kinda skeptical about this. "Three months? That sounds like it's way too fast for the people to get used to it. It's going to overwhelm them." Saito looked at the silver haired elf. "No, it will be easy enough. Those LED lights are designed to be operated in one switch. Either it is on or it is off." Henrietta thought about this. The fact that all it took was a simple switch to turn it off was something that was going make their lives easier. "Sounds like a good thing Saito-san. What was it that you want to tell us?" Saito was waiting for this moment. This was the moment when he was going to bring the technology that would change forever.

"The next thing that I will bring is going to change Tristain and the Elven lands forever. In our world, we call it 'Internet' and 'Computer'." Saito said. Of course, this confused everyone here. "I…In..ter…..net?" Tiffania said in confusion. "Com…..put….er? What is that?" Bidashal said, obviously lost. Saito then explained to the group what these things are. "A computer is a thing that is used in my world that does commands based on what you typed in there. Think of it as a thing that can take your command. Any command. And the Internet is what makes the computer come alive. Think it like a massive library that you can access anytime. On top of that, there is entertainment that you can do when you aren't bored. As for communication, you can talk with other people in an instant. No written letters, just typing and send to them in an instant." Theo especially was interested in things like this. I mean, the fact that he could talk with anyone in anyplace in an instant was going to be an amazing thing for him to have. Henrietta was also interested in this as well. The fact that she'll be able to talk with her childhood friend Louise will be something that she was. "That sounds, quite amazing in fact. Saito-san, won't this require something like Louise's magic and Bidashal's magic?" Saito, played with his fingers for a few minutes, trying to come out with a suitable answer. Eventually, he came up with an answer. "Yes, that is most likely the case Henrietta. Louise and Bidashal will be need so that the device can properly work. Otherwise, you would have nothing but a brick on your hands. Who wants that in the first place? The answer is no one." Tiffania, was looking at Saito, then she gave him some suggestions. "Saito-san, maybe you should talk about the next set of stuff that you plan to bring to Tristain." Saito drank more of the tea. He then sat his back straight to turn to the others. "Yes. What I am going to bring next is a smartphone. Basically, it is a computer that you can put in your pocket." Everyone there besides Louise and Saito dropped their jaws in utter shock. To think that something like a "computer" can be put in someone's pocket is amazing. "In…..in MY POCKET!? Seriously, I want to get in on that. I can have this anywhere I can go." Theo said. Being Emilia's father, he was excited for the new stuff that he was going to get for the first time." Saito then laid out all of the plans. "The phones will have unlimited 4G LTE access which will give you internet. And of course, it runs on battery as well. We can easily change that to use the elven battery source that will last forever. Sounds like a good plan?" Everyone in the room nodded at Saito's proposal to bring something. They were waiting for the final thing that Saito will say.

"One final thing that I would like to bring from my place is what we call a motorcycle." Saito said. He actually had a motorcycle before, so he knew firsthand how fast this thing can go. Everyone besides him and Louise didn't know what a motorcycle was, so he went on to explain the situation to them. "Do you see those carriages that you guys use? This thing can go much, much faster than that. I have the one that is called the Kawasaki Ninja H2." Henreitta was interested, as Tristain could use a faster way of transporting goods. "Um…Saito-san, how is this 'motorcycle' thing powered in the first place?" Saito, turned to the half-elf to explain to her. "Remember that 'Wings of the Dragon'? Yeah, basically, the motorcycle uses the same fuel as that thing. Don't worry, it wo….." That was when Bidashal interrupted him. "Saito. If possible, I can use some of my elven magic to transform the fuel in that thing into an unlimited source of energy. That way, we can use it forever? But, how are the people going to operate this thing? Carriages and airships are the only things that we used so far." Saito let out a small smile. "That can be taken care off. Simply, since I have a license, I can teach you guys how to operate one. That way, everyone in Tristain can use this thing. And the benefits are immediate. I bet that if I was going to drive the motorcycle from the Capital to the Magic Academy, it would take around 5-10 minutes, rather than a couple of hours. The thoughts in Theo's mind ran rampant as he imagine himself blazing through the fields of Tristain. Of course, he would have to learn how to operate it first. Blazing across the fields was something that Theo really wanted to do. "Ahem. I specialize in what is called Yang magic. I can duplicate things and restore items to their original states. It's my specialty. So if we want to mass produce these things, you can count on me." Henrietta gave a small smile at him. "Theo-san, is it possible if you can try to contain this magic in a small space? There, we can build a factory to produce these type of things." Theo, having practiced for years, knew that this was an easy feat. "Sure, why not? I can do that as well." Louise then interjected about all of these devices. "Saito showed me all of these things, and I got to try them out as well. They were amazing, and I think it would help Tristain to undergo a massive boom. It would also makes the peasant's lives more interesting as well. I have seen them, stressed out from their work. Don't you all agree that they should have something that provides as entertainment?" Everyone that was in the room nodded in agreement."

Just a few minutes later, the food arrived from the kitchen. By now, it was around 1:00 PM. Several maids entered the room, with each of them having a tray. On by one, each food was laid out. There was a mixture of salads, bread, stew, and sandwiches for all to eat. After all of the food was placed on the table, the maids left the room to leave the party of six to feed. They went on to each lunch while discussing on how to go about Saito's plan of slowly changing Tristain to incorporate modern technologies from Japan. When that was done, Henrietta led the group back up to where the elven generator was located, along with the lamp. They were all back at the room, ready to resume the experiment. "Bidashal, can you try to change the lamp into something that is useable?" Bidashal walked to the lamp, and raised his hand. The others simply watched as a green-ish beam extended from his hand and made contact with the lamp. Saito could see it develop a reception type of device that was rectangular shaped. He didn't know what it did. Bidashal then completed the process and stepped back to look at the thing. "Hmm. Interesting, it seemed like it did nothing." Saito looked at Bidashal. "Not so fast. I am going to turn it on right now. This will see if the experiment worked, or if it failed." This was the moment of truth. The newly developed Magitek experiment. Was it going to be a success? Or is it a failure? The other six watched in anticipation as Saito flicked the "ON" switch on the lamp. It lit up bright as a day. "Th….That's amazing!" Luctiana said, unable to speak on what had just happened. "This. This right here, is the biggest discovery that Tristain has ever discovered! Can you imagine what we can do with this? This right here? We don't have to waste fuel anymore! That elven generator can cover an entire city!" Henrietta, was overjoyed to see that Saito's experiment worked. Saito himself was happy as well, which then led to a cheer that was followed by everyone else. The people that were working the castle wondered what was going on in Henrietta's office. She then turned to Theo. "Try your magic, Theo-san. The others and I would like to know if your magic really can duplicate things." Theo, without hesitation, shot his magic, which was a light beam, at the two objects. The room was engulfed with a bright white light for several seconds before returning back to normal. In place, there was now an additional elven generator and an elven enhanced lamp. Theo looked at his hands, then he looked at the device the he just duplicated. "Guys, I think we have a ground work for a mass production factory." Saito said. Henrietta, wanting to get a hand on this herself, agreed with Saito. "Tomorrow, I'll get several magical contractors to build a factory to the west of Tristain. We have the groundworks needed to develop this thing. Thank you for joining me today everyone! I'll leave the stuff here for now. In the meantime, Agnes will escort you out of the palace. Feel free to rest for the time being." With that, Agnes was standing at the front of the door, in her usual attire. She escorted the party of 6 back to Saito's mansion, which took a couple of hours. During that time, the six people in the carriage talked about the experiment that was conducted, and how amazing of a discovery that they just have made. Everyone was brimming with excitement.

 _ **The Road to a New Era**_

Several days rolled by, and the contract workers were busy constructing the manufacturing factory from the outside. The layout of the factory was determined by Saito, who gave the layout plans to Henrietta. It was going to have a 50 conveyor belts that would be allowed to mass produce the product. It also had a three step system, which the party of 6 agreed on. First, Bidashal's elven magic was contained a cube shaped rod that fires directly down at the product, giving it elven qualities. Secondly, the next step was making more copies. This required containing Theo's duplication magic in another cube shaped rod, which fired down. Lastly, there was the Louise's World Door magic/Translation magic, which was also contained in a cube rod proposed by Saito as they were planning for the construction of this factory. When fired down, this gave the device total access between Louise's world and Saito's world, as well as translate the entire thing to French. For example, if they want to use internet on a laptop, they can get connections from Earth easily in Wi-Fi places, as well as cell towers from Earth. There is also 10 carriage service terminals that serve to load the products. It took two weeks to complete the factory, with each worker working around the clock to ensure the fastest completion. When it was done, the factory was opened for the first time. The public, hearing about the factory, was in overwhelming support to acquire Saito's new tech. Saito was the head of the factory, with Theo as the second in command, and Tiffania, Bidashal, and Luctiana as people to train the workers that were hired to make sure that everything was going as planned, and make sure nothing broke down. Thus, this marked the start of a new era in Tristain. For the first time, foreign tech that was enhanced with elven magic will be produced on a mass scale. Henreitta was first in line to see the first technological factory in Tristain open. She, Louise, and Saito used scissors to cut down the red ribbon which signified the beginning of operations. As this happened, Henreitta thought about all of the possibilities that might have occurred. She herself wished one day to get that magical device that would allow her talk with Louise on a daily basis. That was her wish. No more waiting for letters, which could take days to process.

As the days went on, production started on both the elven lamps and generators. Since they were already elven enhanced, only the duplication rod was active. At first, only a few people wanted the team's new invention. But then, word spread on how much brighter their place got, and the popularity of the new products exploded. Carriages were working in overtime to deliver these things all across Tristain. One people told another person how to use the thing, and it spread like wildfire. One by one, every single settlement in Tristain received the elven generator. In the meantime, LED bulb production was in full swing as well. In a matter of three months, the entire country of Tristain was power by elven electricity, and the capital especially lit up into the night. Even Henrietta, the queen of Tristain, ordered for the complete replacement of every light source in the palace with an LED version. The chandeliers were also upgraded to be able to support LED lights. Even Tristain's Magic Academy received an upgrade as well. All former gas lamp lights were replaced by LED lamps and LED light sources. Even the dorms received the same treatment as well. In a span of three months, the entire gas lamp that Tristain relied on for hundreds of years, was rendered utterly obsolete. No one would want to go back to the gas lamp. In fact, no once missed it, since it was much dimmer when compared to an LED light from Saito's world. By now, Tristain's capital was a place that lit up as bright as the day. No longer were the streets dark. Rather, it was bright enough to see that was going on at night. At Saito's mansion, the entire place was filled with at least one LED light in every single room. There was every possible type of light source that was produced by the end of the three months. Louise, Saito, and the 4 other elves that were living in the house were already used to this. The gas lamps that they used to have was discarded and thrown right into the trash. "So, Tristain has fully incorporated all of the LED lights. Well done everyone." Theo, especially was amazed at the rapid progress that was made in the meantime. "I wish I could bring something like this to Lugnica. Can you imagine what how my place can benefit from this? This is simply remarkable to see." By now, Saito believed that it was now the time to introduce the computer, something that he has been talking about for a long time. "Tomorrow, I'm going to introduce the computer from my world. It is called the Dell G7. This will be powerful enough to make fit all of your needs. You all are going to enjoy it." Tiffania, the half elf, was jumping in excitement as she couldn't wait to get her hands on this "computer". "Saito-san, I can't wait to get my hands on this! We are starting product tomorrow. Right?" Saito nodded at TIffania's question.

By the next day, Saito went into this home world to bring the Dell G7 15 from his world into Tristain. Production immediately began. In each box, there was manual in Tristain's language to teach the citizens on how to use the new device, as well as how to set it up for use to connect to the internet. The computer, in its blue Dell Logo, with its i7-8750H and GTX 1060 MAX-Q, with 16 GBS of DDR4 2660 MHZ RAM with a 1 TB SSD was also included in the box. The first box was shipped, and it was delivered to Henreitta, the Queen of Tristain. When she got the box, she opened it carefully. In there was the Dell G7 15. She took it out carefully, making sure not to drop the device. She also pulled out the manual that was included as well. Thankfully, the manual was in French. She opened it and pulled the laptop lid that separated the screen from the keyboard. When she opened it, it revealed a blue QWERY styled keyboard. Each key had a blue-like look to it. _"This is unlike anything that I have seen before. If Saito-san said that this was the thing that changed his place, then I must learn how to use this thing. I should probably read the manual that came with this thing."_ With that, Henrietta learned how to turn on the thing. She pressed the power button, which caused the laptop to boot on. The backlight keyboard lit up in LED blue lights as well. Henrietta was slightly startled by this. _"Blue lights. This….this is magic?"_ She looked to the screen to see the Dell logo pop out, followed by the Windows 10 setup that followed in French. Through reading the manual that was included, Henrietta was able to set up Windows 10, which took her to the desktop. In it, the laptop was already connected to the Internet from Earth due to Louise's World Door Magic. It also had infinite battery as well from Bidashal's elven magic. She kept reading the manual, and she tried to type on the keyboard for the first time. It was awkward at first, but after an hour or so, she was able to type in French, much like how she wrote in French. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she clicked on the program called Microsoft Edge. It didn't take long for Henrietta to get addicted to the thing. Meanwhile, production of the Dell G7 was going at full speed. Louise, Bidashal, Theo, Luctiana, and Tiffania all got their own Dell G7 laptop on the exact same day. By the end of the day, around 500 Dell G7 laptops were produced. These were then distributed to various citizens in Tristain. Throughout the week, Saito taught the party of 6 on how to use the computer, with the manual as an assist. In the first month or so, Henrietta has received numerous demands from the citizens of Tristain to get the Dell G7 15 in their homes.

As such, production of the laptop sped up rapidly, with the people wanting to get more information and to communicate with each other online. The popularity of the Dell G7 in Tristain was so great that Saito couldn't go anywhere without some talking about what they did on the laptop. By the end of three months, the continuous production means that most of the people living in Tristain had the laptop. Henrietta by this time was also getting quite good, almost to the level of an Otaku in laptop skills and knowledge. Theo, Luctiana, Louise, Tiffania, and Bidashal were also approaching this level as well. Tristain has just entered a new age, called the Information age. The Internet from Saito's world has taken Tristain over by storm. Communication by letter was completely gone. The citizens have switched to online methods to communicate. Henreitta also founded her Discord group as well, which consists of Louise, Bidashal, Saito, Theo, Tiffania, and Saito. Around this period, two things also immerged in Tristain. The first was gaming. One citizen accidently found out what gaming is, so he tried it, and was immediately hooked. This spread like wildfire around Tristain, and even Henreitta, the Queen, got into gaming as well. It quickly became competitive, with people cheering on their friends to win the match. Right now, the free to play games were really popular. Fortnite, Paladins, League of Legends, and Dota 2 reigned supreme. Saito's group, being the one that brought all the tech from his world, got into the world of PC gaming. Saito, Louise, Theo, and Tiffania played Fortnite (as that was their favorite). Meanwhile, Bidashal, and Luctiana played DOTA 2, the MOBA game that required teamwork to win the match. It also had a high learning curve as well. This was around 2.5 months after the computer was introduced. Bidashal and Luctiana also played Fortnite as duos, going for the win most of the time. Around this time, watching anime also became a past time for the people in Tristain. Saito introduced anime to his crew, and they took a strong interest to the shows that were presented in Japan. Fortunately, they had French subtitles. The same thing also occurred in Tristain citizens as well. Around this same time, Theo proposed to take the Dell G7 and turn it into a computer that can create any object from Earth, that would be enhanced with both elven magic and Louise's magic. Tiffania, Bidashal, Luctiana, and Theo agreed to take on this project. What it would be called was decided on. The name of it will be the "Materializer". This would take around a year to develop. In the meantime, they also established a computer shop to teach people how to use the internet. At this time, Saito was prepared to move on the next phrase. It was now 6 months since he introduced the generator and LEDs. Now it was time to introduce the all-in-one device, the smartphone. This would be the second big leap into the Information Age for Tristain.

Saito brought the Samsung Note 9 from his world to show off to his team. They realized that it was basically a small version of a computer that has 'apps', which is like programs. Theo saw how one swipe and several touches on the screen allowed for Saito to navigate around the phone. Tiffania especially was amazing on how this one device can do anything. Ranging from text messaging, to surfing the web, to mobile gaming, it can do it all. Luctiana also wanted to have a piece of this because it would make her research about the humans much more effective. Plus, it would be more ways for her to have some fun. Once again, production spiked. Due to people knowing how to use the computer, it didn't take long for them to get used to the way it works. The five people that didn't have the phone were now glued to their Note 9, amazed at the amount of raw power that Saito's world had. Henrietta also announced the Note 9 to the public as well, and demand shot through the roof. Citizens rallied on the streets demanding for the device as soon as possible. The factories were being worked to their absolute limit. Carriages sometimes broke down, prompting for an immediate replacement. And not to worry, the elven enhanced Note 9 was equipped with an infinite battery source and unlimited 4G LTE. By two months, Saito walked the streets of the capital with his wife Louise, who was busy watching a YouTube video about the best anime as well. About 75% of the residents were basically talking and looking down at their smartphones, their computer that could be taken with them on the go. At the three month mark, almost everyone in Tristain has the Note 9. Mobile gaming was rapidly on the rise as well. Henrietta especially texted Louise regularly after getting her phone number. Saito noticed this, and remembered at how in the past 9 months, Tristain has blossomed from the medieval age to the Information age mixed with medieval buildings. Also, Tiffania and Theo downloaded Fornite on their phones as well. The half-elf and Emilia's father were extremely good, racking in multiple wins in a row that would make even Ninja scared. Saito and Louise watched in shock numerous times as they would wipe the floor with the 98 other players from Saito's world. To him, the fact that he can game anywhere is a huge bonus to him and the others. They all took advantage of the smartphone apps as well. Since anime was a thing, all six members of Saito's team downloaded AnimeDLR. "On the go anime. This is what I wanted all along." Theo said to himself. "Now, if only if this same thing can go to Lugnica as well. That would be my dream. Which one should I watch first? Akame Ga Kill? Yes, that sounds like a good one to watch." In all, the Note 9 further boosted Tristain's economy, with people even switch to online for their business stuff. Now, all that was needed was a faster way of getting around. For that, Saito will bring in his Kawasaki Ninja H2 and put in a race against a carriage in a 100 meter race. This is to show that motorcycles are the way to go from now on. During this time, the Materializer had just entered the prototype stage. The team of 4 elves were working on the bugs that have occurred, and are trying to solve issue. However, the most important thing of all is that the Materializer actually made something.

 ** _At the race a couple of days later._**

Henrietta made an announcement to the public that the race was going to start in the square at around 11:00 PM in the morning to demonstrate the speed of a motorcycle. To the left, was Saito in his Kawasaki Ninja H2, is one of the fastest street legal bikes in Japan. To the right, was a racing carriage that was used in races around Tristain. Serving as the start of the race was one of the Musketeers in Henrietta's army. It was about a few minutes before the start of the race. A large crowd has gathered at the center of the capital. Cheers from the crowd ran rampant. Several of them took photos with their phones. Others recorded the footage with their Note 9. Just then, Saito got a message from Henrietta. It read: _"Saito-san. Good luck in the race. I know that you can do it!"_ He looked at it, then gave a thumbs up to the rest of his crew. The countdown began. The Ninja H2 revved. Finally, the black sound. The carriage got out to a slow start. Meanwhile, the Ninja H2 accelerated so fast that the entire race was over in mere seconds. The crowd was shocked at first, followed by loud cheers. Chants of Saito's name echoed in the capital. Saito waved at the crowd. "In a matter of three months, I can ensure you that all will have this thing. Our factory will go on mass production. With that, Saito went back to his mansion, and discussed on how to mass produce the Ninja H2. Saito suggested that they add elven magic that gives the person complete mastery of the Ninja H2, since it can take years before a person is proficient at operating a motorcycle. Bidashal agreed, and within the next day, an additional rod was added, which granted instant mastery. It also had the ability to never require fuel, since elven fuel is infinite. On that very same day, 500 bikes were produced and shipped to the public. When a Tristain citizen got a hand on this, that person became an instant expert in the motorcycle. In the first few weeks, there wasn't any motorcycles going around Tristain. Then a month went by. One Ninja H2 appeared on the streets. Then appeared two of them. The carriages were getting scarcer. In the span of 3 months, the streets were littered with nothing but Ninja H2 motorcycles. This also created traffic problems, so Saito proposed to Henrietta to instate traffic lights. She agreed to this proposal, and another 6 months passed in which traffic lights were install in various intersections. In just a matter of 1.5 years, Tristain has propelled itself into the most technological advanced nation in _Halkegnia_. Tiffania also retained her naivety as a half-elf, but she has matured somewhat. Louise was now 18, and Saito was 19. Tiffania also turned 18 around this time.

Around this time, the Materializer was completed. It was finalized, and Theo made three other copies, one for Tiffania, Bidashal, and Luctiana. All of its bugs were rectified and fixed. Also, the elven storage that took the shape of a cube and has unlimited capacity was completed around the same time as well. By now, an anime/gaming community was well developed. Saito's crew regularly watched the anime that was appealing to them. Usually, Saito is the one that picked the anime, as he was more into the fantasy, isekai genre. Louise preferred the harlem genre. The other's didn't care for which type, and simply go along with Saito's flow. The first that they watched together in Saito's mansion on the Dell G7 was SAO 2: Gun Gale Online. "This here, is about a boy named Kirito who has to solve the mystery of a person that goes by the name 'Death Gun'. Apparently, he is the one that can kill players for real." They were watching the 1st episode on KissAnime. "Kill…..players in game? That does not sound right at all. Something is definitely off" Tiffania said to herself. Theo, who was watching it, also made an observation as well. "That's right. There is no way you can kill someone in the VR game without having outside help. It's impossible." They watched several more episodes, and then, it was time for Kirito to dive into GGO. When the anime showed him react to his M9000 avatar, this cause Saito's crew to laugh so hard that tears formed in their eyes. "A…..he looks like….AHAHAHA…..a GIRL!" Luctiana said, unable to control her laughter. They continued to watch the episodes, and got an even bigger laugh after Sinon found out that Kirito was a boy. That caused her to give the cold shoulder at Kirito. Most of all, Saito's crew was amazed at Kirito's gaming skills. He was unstoppable. "Look at those fast reflexes that he has! I don't even know if I can keep out with that!" Theo said. "Obviously he is quite good at Gun Gale Online." Over the next several episodes, Saito's crew watched as the Bullet of Bullets started. Louise especially commented about Sinon's past, and how she still had that fear of guns. But then, they simply watched as Pale Rider in GGO was seemly disconnected, by a mysterious person in that mask. They noticed that he was clenching his heart. "What the hell?" Tiffania said in utter shock. Theo already had his suspicions, "That guy must be the one who is doing all of the killings. That bastard. Why would he do such a thing?!" Various reactions occurred as they followed Sinon and Kirito in discovering the truth about Death Gun. Around episode 9, Theo's predictions were indeed correct. Saito's crew was in shock as well. This cumulated into the end of the Bullet of Bullets, with Kirito winning over Death Gun. After that, Shino was confronted by her "friend". Just then, "ASADA-SAN" rang through the Dell G7, causing everyone to be disturbed by his rant. Fortunately, Kirito was there to save her. The anime then concluded with Sinon joined Kirito's friends and his girlfriend Asuna. This made Saito's crew react with a heartwarming feeling. To know that Death Gun was finally defeated once in for all, left them with the feeling of hope. They also enjoyed the battles that occurred within Gun Gale Online as well, since the battles were entertaining. Perhaps one day VR could advance to the level that Full Dive becomes a reality.

This marked the start of Saito's crew and adventures. Their next anime that they are going to watch however, is going to blow them away. Thanks to the emergence of Saito's tech, Tristain became the central place to relax and have some fun. And so, the elven country have suffered the same fate as well, undergoing it's own technological revolution. SAO: Gun Gale Online was only one of the first anime that they have watched. There is more to come in the future for the crew.


	2. Re:Zero EP1 Reaction By Team ZNT

**_A few months later. More than two years have passed since Saito's introduction of his technology._**

 ** _At Saito's Mansion in Tristain, where they are watching Re:Zero_**

It was another typical day of hanging out at Saito's mansion with the crew. Today, Saito was going to introduce the show to an anime that he wanted to watch with everyone. "This anime that we will start to watch today is called Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu." Theo raised his hand to ask Saito a question. "If you mind, can you retell what does 'Isekai' mean?" Without hesitation, Saito answered. "Isekai means: 'Transported to another world.' In other words, the main protagonist is transferred from his world to another world of sorts. Well, shall we get started? Saito connected his Dell G7 to the 70 inch 4K TV. He then went into KissAnime and went into the one with the French Sub titles. Since Tristain speaks Japanese, like Saito, he decided to play that. And thus, the crew began to watch Re: Zero. First of all, they were greeted by Subaru speaking: "I'm in deep shit. Seriously deep shit." Then spoke in a distorted female voice: "Subaru, what's wrong?" The next scene then follows a scene in the real world, at a convenience store. "Mini…stop? And a female voice." Tiffania said in confusion. Saito turned to Tiffania and explained things to her. "It's a place where you can buy food. This place is commonplace in Japan these days." The next scene then cuts to Subaru reading a manga in the store. Someone took the ITunes gift card. "A tracksuit? This guy must have been working out all day or something." Luctiana said. Saito looked at the manga that Subaru was reading. "From what I can tell, that manga is definitely a romance type one like Nisekoi. I wondered why he would read something like that in the first place." In the movie, Subaru then commented on the manga itself. "Oh I see. This where they suck you in." Right at that moment, Theo noticed that something was wrong. To be more specific, it was the way that Subaru spoke. "Something about him does not sound right. He sounds really depressed. Won't you agree with me on this statement?" Luctiana also noticed this as well. "Yeah. Sounds like he is not happy about his life at all. I mean, that's what I think."

The next scene in episode 1 cuts to a scene where it is dark, except with fact that there was a single source of light, apparently coming from the moon. Apparently, Subaru said: "No...Run away, Now!" Saito had a dreaded look his face. "Uh oh, that can't be good at all. Something is gonna happen, and I am not liking it." Following that, the scene then cuts back to the store where Subaru is finishing his manga in store. It then showed Subaru looking outside at a couple, with his face apparent in the mirror. Bidashal commented on his face. "Yeah, that is the face of someone that is not happy with his life. Someone that is suffering from some sort of depression." Subaru then watched as the couple went about their business. He looked back, then down, and let out a huge sigh. He then put the manga away. As he walked away, the scene shifts back to that dark scene with a single source of light. Then they all saw someone's fall down, the left hand was in the light source. It appeared to be a human hand. "Who's hand is that?!" Theo said to Saito. He shrugged his hand. "How would I know? I have only started watching this anime with you." It then cuts to the scene that showed two instant noodle bowls. Once was named Noodle The Tonkotsu, and the other one was a Nato bowl. Subaru went to pick up the Noddle The Tonkotsu (a ramen dish), followed by the Corn Potatoes. "Those things look good Saito-san. Do you have those in your world or something like that?" Tiffania said to Saito. He continued to watch, then replied to Tiffania. "Yes, we have those things in my world. That ramen and corn chips are pretty good. Not the best for your health though." The next scene then cuts back to the dark scene with the lonely light source. This time, Subaru's hand was reaching out to the other hand in the light. "Just wait..." Subaru said. It then goes back to the convenience store. Subaru went to pay his items. The clerk told him the total "That'll be 363 yen." Subaru then took out the 10 yen coin and paid the items. He then left the store, and it was night. It then cut to a scene where there was houses everywhere. It seemed to be in a residential zone of sorts. Just then, a taxi passed by. "Saito-san, so this is your world? Japan. Look at all of those houses and advanced tech. You guys have it easy there." Theo said as he watch the episode. Saito gave out a slight chuckle. "Yep. This is my world. A world with freedom. You can do what you want." It then briefly cut to the scene where Suabru was reaching for the hand while bleeding out in the dark. "I", said Subaru. It is now back to the scene where Subaru is looking around. It then cuts back again to where Subaru is reaching, blood coming from his mouth. It follows that Subaru said:"will". _"Look at that. He is bleeding out. Not good at all."_ Saito thought. It's back to that same store once again, where Subaru looks around. Just then, a bizarre scene plays out with a weird sound effect. It was a green fog of sorts. It then turned to a blackish, blue color. "save you!", was the words that came out from Subaru. _"I...will save you? But who?"_ Tiffania thought in confusion. Just then, a hand with claw-like features showed up. This causes a jump scare in Louise. "EEK! What is that thing!? That hand like thing!" It then went back to Subaru try to walk home, only for the surrounding around him to distort. "What the? Is this some dimensional travel BS?" Theo said. By now, he was familiar with anime tropes. Subaru looked around, trying to find out what the heck did he just saw. It then zoomed out of the store, and from there, a city like place can be seen. There were buildings everywhere. "Such a modern society." Bidashal said. It then zoomed back to Subaru looking back to himself and rubbing his eyes. "I guess anyone would start seeing things when they spend their whole day holed up in their room gaming."

Saito, shook his head. "Gaming all day? Man, does Subaru even have a life? Even with me, I'm average at everything. even I went to school, and had friends. Is he a NEET? Most likely." Luctiana was trying to figure out why he was gaming all day. "Gaming all day? Even I don't game that much. Why would he do such a thing, Saito?" Saito turned to Luctiana. "Video games serve as a escape from life, as well as entertainment. Judging from the looks of it, he uses gaming to escape his life. I don't think he is happy about the way he is living at all." Theo nodded in agreement. "You're right Saito-san. To game all day, means that Subaru was living a shitty life that he wanted to escape from. I don't know what caused him to act this way." Louise stepped in to answer. "Most likely his school, and his parents are factors in this." Saito wondered about something as well. _"Who in the hell names their child after a car? Seriously? You have got to be kidding me."_ The scene then panned to Subaru rubbing his eyes up close. As he opened his eyes once, it was the street in Japan that was in front of him. The next moment he opened his eyes, a white nothingness was shown. This repeated for several more times. Then, the scene revealed several figures in a dark shadow. None of them seemed to be human in the first place. It then became clear, it was a mixture of humans and demi humans walking around the street. It was revealed to be a market place of sorts, with the shop to the left selling jewelry (yellow tarp). The other (one with the teal and white striped tarp), was selling pottery. Saito's group noticed that the ground was a marble-rock like one, similar to what they used in Tristain. He blinked again, at the scene cuts to where Subaru looks confused to what has happened. He looks around. The next scene shows buildings that looked like it was in a big city of sorts. Definitely medieval era. It then zoomed out to show more buildings, with white birds flying on top of the screen. "These buildings look like they were designed like European architecture. Most likely, Subaru is in a medieval era." Subaru then asked himself. "What is going on?" The next scene then cuts to more buildings, and what seems like the center of a square. Saito's crew noticed a carriage with a dragon-like creature that was pulling it. "Saito-san, isn't that a carriage that we used to use before it was replaced by the motorcycle?" Saito nodded his head. The next scene shows Subaru in front of the water fountain in what seems to be a roundabout, with him looking lost. Just then, the dragon carriage blazed by the screen. "This stuff isn't fake." Subaru said to himself. "Wait..." This was when Subaru began to realize what happened to him. He let out a small gasp, realizing what happened to him. "Does this mean that...I've been summoned to a different world!?" Subaru's face during this scene made Saito's team cringe. The scene then cuts to shows the sea of medieval-European era buildings on the hill. As it scrolls up, the team could see a castle. Finally, the final shot in this scene showed the entire city in all of its glory."

"Holy...Saito, that city is much, much larger than Tristain's capital! From what I can tell, it looks like a kingdom, based on that castle. How many people live their anyway?" Theo looked at the city. "Most likely, the population is well over 200,000. Also, how in the hell did Subaru get teleported to another world? That was abrupt. Can you imagine? His parents must be looking for him by now. I feel sorry for them." Saito shrugged. "How would I know? At least that green portal by Louise was what summoned me to Tristain. This right here, there is no explanation on how Subaru got there. And that face...wanted to make me cringe. That was...I really don't know how to say it." Luctiana agreed as well. "Yeah. Well, what do you expect from someone that plays video games in his room all day? Of course he would know instantly that he got sent into another world." Tiffania, the half-elf, added to the discussion. "Hmm. Subaru-san must have read a lot of isekai manga and light novels to see the predicament that he was in. That face he made though made me giggle a little. Adorable." Then, the Re:Zero logo pops up, along with what appears to be an emblem representing the background image. "That emblem right there, looks interesting. Wait a minute, I know what that thing is. That is from Lugnica!" Theo said, shocked at what he just saw. "No...calm down..this is only a anime show. Nothing more." Saito's crew looked at Theo, Emilia's long lost father who vanished from Elior Forest ever since she was born. From there, Saito's crew gets a view of the various buildings and market places that were littered in this block. They noticed the a girl running on top of the roofs. The next scene then cuts to show a teen girl running on top of a roof. She was a short girl with fair skin and medium length golden hair. She adorns a sheathed dagger on her butt. "Thief, most likely." Bidashal said to himself. Just then, the scene cuts to show her face. She has red eyes and a red-like scarf. In the next cut, she was holding an emblem with her right hand. Theo shook his head. "She stole that thing! It's glowing for some reason. It must be important and valuable. As expected from a thief." All of Saito's crew nodded and continued to watch the scene that unfolded. She then gave a giggle and leaped off screen. It then shows her leaping from one roof to another roof of the numerous buildings. "Her agility is really high. Such nimbleness!" Luctiana said. She then lept off the roof and jump from one roof of the carriage to another. She then jumped to a roof of a building once again.

The next scene then cuts to Subaru trying to figure out his surroundings. Carriages that were pulled by land creatures were going by in the background as Subaru walked to the left. "It's safe to assume that this is a fantasy world, complete with the typical medieval culture." Saito sighed. "Man, Subaru knows way too much about what place he is in. Gaming can do all sorts of bad things to you." Meanwhile, Subaru kept talking to himself. "A realm where demihumans are commonplace, and probably stuff like wars and adventures too." Theo cringed at this. "I can't believe Subaru is treating this like a fucking video game. Maybe he should have done something better with his life instead of wasting his life away in his room?" The others kept watching. Subaru kept talking to himself "And here, I am..." Just then, a voice of male came through. "Hey!" It then cut to a scene where one of the dragon carriages was about to run over a civilian. Apparently, it looked like he tripped over something, causing him to fall. It then cut to Subaru, who had his right hand raised, and the left hand with the items he brought from that store in Japan, Earth. Subaru realizes what he must do. "All right! It's my time to shine!" He then began to do this weird pose, and making odd hand and arm moments. "This must be the event where I cast my first spell!" Satio's crew let out a huge sigh, knowing how cringe it was. "What...the...fuck...is Subaru doing? He is making a fool of himself!" Saito said, already getting annoyed by Subaru's antics in the show. Tiffania, Bidashal, and Louise all facepalmed at the arm and hand moments that Subaru was making at the moment. "HAAH" Subaru said, as he imitated using magic. "God, this guy is already getting on my nerves." Bidashal said. "Even Saito that came from the same place didn't act like this." Saito turned to Bidashal to answer him. "That is because Subaru is a NEET, based on what we saw in Japan. Also, gaming all day can cause you to do stupid, cringe-worthy things. I may be average in everything, but at least I have a life."

As the child braced for the collision with the carriage, a knight dived in to get him out of the way. "Look out!" The crowd cheered, with Subaru still in that same casting spell motion. "Way to go!" The crowd cheered on. "Well done!" Subaru then looked at his hands. It then switched to Subaru walking somewhere. "I guess I'm not ready to use magic yet." Louise shrugged her head. Subaru then looked to a store on the right, there was varying foods in this market. The prices was marked in a language that was Lugnican. It wasn't anything like Saito's crew have seen before. However, they would see the prices of the apple, lemons, and fruits. They even saw bananas in the background. "I can't read a thing." This was Subaru's thoughts as he looked at the item. Just then, the Appa man talked to him. "Hey, buddy. Those are some weird clothes. Are you a traveler?" Subaru asked the Appa man what those apple-like fruit are. The man replied, "Those are appas." Subaru knows he understands him. _"They understand me, though. So the question is..."_ Subaru thought. He then tried to hand over his money to the Appa man: "Huh? What kind of money is that? You can't use that junk in Lugunica." Tiffania commented on what the Appa man said. "So...money only has value if society determines it has value? That is what I am getting from that store person." The Appa man then continued his talk. "So that means you're flat broke? Scram! Quit interfering with my business!" It then cut to Subaru's dejected face. _"Whatever. I'll just try to gather some information for now."_ Subaru then walked to a bathroom of sorts. Saito can already tell what is going to happen. _"Oh boy, this is the part of the show where the MC walks into the wrong bathroom."_ Subaru walked into a bathroom, with female humans and demihumans. He got slapped in the face by a female cat-like demihuman.

The next scene then showed Subaru walking into a bar, full of demihumans. "This place is for demihumans only." One of them came in and hit Subaru in the eye on accident. _"Ow! My...eyes..."_ He then fell into the water. _"This savage is hopeless."_ Luctiana thought as she watched the anime. It then cut to a scene where Subaru was in an alley all by himself. His tracksuit clothes was left to dry, while his goods was on the left from the store. "Isn't this the wrong script? Wasn't I summoned into a different world?! Where's my protagonist status?!" Subaru said. This annoyed Theo. "Will this guy quit treating that place like a video game? Seriously, this kid needs to go out more." Saito was about to faceplant his head on the desk due to how cringy Subaru is. "Protagonist status? Give me a break. This guy has played WAY too much video games in his free time." The anime episode continues. "Damn it!" Subaru said. He then pulled something out of his pocket. It turned out to be a flip phone. Subaru was navigating his contact list, with the battery full, and there was no signal. Theo, Emilia's father who is a big fan of tech, certainly had something to say. "A flip phone?! Who uses that outdated piece of shit device? My Note 9 can crush this thing to bits. It can do everything. From the internet, to text messaging, to gaming, to watching videos, the list goes on and on. There are apps for everything that I need. I bet most of the people in Japan use smartphones by now." Luctiana, with her curiosity getting the better of her, decided to look up what type of phone that Subaru has in Re: Zero. She eventually came across the post named: 'Look no more: here is Subaru's phone as posted by Nagatsuki-sensei'. All it took was a couple of moments for Luctiana to scroll to the page to find her answer. "Theo, this is a Docomo N503i by NEC, released in 2001. Truly an outdated piece of junk. No one really uses flip phones anymore, since smartphones basically rendered them obsolete." Tiffania shook her head. "If Subaru-san only had a flip phone, then the situation that he had in Japan must have not been the best. There is no reason to own a flip phone these days. Smartphones have rendered them obsolete." Louise also noted something. "Saito, that kid only has 4 things on his contact list. A pizza place, his parents, and the city hall. Why is it so bare?" Saito looked at the TV, and he figured it out. "Louise, there is a high chance that Subaru has no friends. He lives as a NEET, so it makes sense on why he only needed those contacts. Still, I feel bad for him, how he choose to live that way. I'm 19, so he must be around the same age, give or take a few years." They all turned back to the scene. "My cell phone still works." Subaru said. Theo looked at Subaru scrolling through his flip phone. "More like outdated dinosaur-era tech that no one will use since there is smartphones. You would think that he would have a smartphone by now, but nope."

Going back to the anime, Subaru saw that there was no signal. "Not that it's good for anything! And what kind of low level starting gear is this?" Even Tiffania was getting annoyed at Subaru antics. "Now Subaru-san is treating his food that he got from that store as 'starting gear'?! Seriously, what does he think this is, a video game?! I mean, that is simply just ridiculous. Gaming too much can make you lose your sense of reality, or maybe he had issues back on Earth." Subaru kept commenting about his status. "Spoon-feed me a big more." Saito was about to boil over. "That is the convenience store food! Not a starting gear item! Can he get anymore obnoxious?" The next scene is where everyone wanted to rip their hair out. "We're called the entitled generation!" At first, the room in Saito's mansion was silent. Then, Theo starting laughing. "Entitled...entitled? Entitled...generation?! A...AH...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Theo laughed so hard that tears formed from his eyes. Meanwhile, everyone else had that face of cringe on them. "I don't even have Excalibur or anything?" Saito wanted to punch Subaru in the screen. "Excalibur?! SUBARU! Stop treating this like some Final Fantasy shit! Because it's not!" Subaru then sighs, followed by a cut to some of the buildings that were in the capital. "And besides, if I was summoned here, where's the cute girl that summoned me?" Saito, knowing about iseaki LNs, made the assumption that Subaru also read numerous iseaki manga/LN to say something like that. "Did she summon me just to abandon me?" The anime then showed feet walking right, in a dark alley. Subaru looked to see who was coming. "Oh, is she finally here!? The cute girl who summoned...me..." Bidashal took notice of Subaru's language. "This guy is insufferable." It then showed three people, who looked like thugs.

It then cut to a scene where Subaru see the three people, apparently armed. His face froze in shock. One of the muggers. "What are you rambling about?" The other in the silver hair said, "If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up whatever you got!" He then went to grab Subaru in the shirt, pulling him up. "Crap, it's a coercion event..." Saito's crew kept on watching. Just then, a girls voice came through. "Move it! All of you! Out of my way!" It was that same thief girl from earlier that Saito's crew saw. Subaru, thinking that she was the one who summoned him, said something that was inflicted cringe. "Here we go! Is that the cute girl who summoned me?!" The thief girl stopped for a moment. "I dunno what you're talkin' about, but I'm busy! Sorry! Live strong!" She then blazed by, leaving Subaru to his muggers. "Wait, what?". The muggers had the same reaction, "What?!" Subaru, seeing the situation that he is in, tried to get out of it. "Hey, that didn't happen to make you change your minds about this, did it?" The big one replied. "All it did was piss us off more." Subaru replied. "Yeah, though so." This was when Subaru was going to fight back. _"Stay calm, Natsuki Subaru. Since ancient times, it's been a rule that anyone summoned to a different world will awaken to supernatural powers! I'll mow these guys down and use them as stepping stones to my shining future!"_ Louise put her hand on her head due to Subaru's thinking. "Now that's arrogance." Subaru made his move. "You lumps of EXP!" Saito shook his head in disbelief. "Yeah, Subaru plays Final Fantasy for sure." He took out two of the thugs with his punching and kicking skills. "That's the first time I've ever hit someone! I didn't expect it to hurt me that much. But this world is really set up so that I'll be strong. My adrenaline is surging! I've got this." Saito's crew didn't say anything regarding to this scene, but Bidashal wanted to pull his hair out already.

"Now that is arrogance at its finest. How could Subaru say such a thing?" Bidashal said while moaning in annoyance. The thug with the white hair and weird tongue pulled out dual blades, most likely to scare Subaru. "Dual...wield?" Saito thought. Sure enough, that got Subaru to bend down to his knees to ask for mercy. "I'm sorry! It was all my fault! Forgive me! Spare me!" Luctiana watched the scene, and she felt that it was not going to be pretty. "Uh oh, looks like Subaru is gonna get a beating." The white thief then followed it with a kick to Subaru's face, which led him to sprawl in pain. The other two thugs regained their senses. "So you wanna be funny, huh?! Die!" This then is followed by a beating of Subaru, which continued. "You're in for a world of pain!" The white haired thug then put his foot on Subaru's face. It then showed that same person putting his tongue out, as if he enjoyed it. "That is disguising." Louise said to herself. At first, no help seemed to come. But then, a female voice came through. "That's enough." All of them turned to the source of the voice. It then panned to a girl standing in the light. She had beautiful long silver hair, and wore a white attire with purple outlines. She had a green like crystal on her chest, above her cleavage. It then panned to show the leggings that she adorned, along with her white, purple boots. It also showed the yellow eagle insignia with two pitchforks, one on each side. Theo was taken aback, as that symbol was the exact same as the one he has on his attire. _"No, it can't be...no...this is only a show. Why does she wear that? That's only if..."_ Theo thought as watched on. Saito's crew noticed that Theo was getting restless. The scene the showed the top of her face, her silver hair. She also had purples eyes and that white X-shaped hair clip on the left side of that hair. "What?! That...hair clip...that X shaped clip...is...similar to one that my sister wore. And she has purple eyes too! Is Re: Zero showing a relative of mine that I never knew? Most likely, because I have purple eyes as well. A long lost niece that this show depicts? Gotta keep calm, this is only an anime made by White Fox! This isn't real." His demeanor however, spoke the complete opposite.

It then showed the back of her face, which shows her long silver hair and white rose ornament on her hair as well. The thugs were confused. "Who the hell are you!?" The girl replied back, "If you do it now, I'll let it slide. So kindly return what you stole from me." The scene then panned over to show her face. Theo was confused. "Who the hell is this person? Who is she?" It then showed Subaru's shocked face at seeing this girl. The thugs were confused, since they didn't steal anything. "What we stole?" The girl replied back while turning to the side and turned back. "Now, please. It's important to me. I'd give up on anything else, but I can't let you have that. So be good and hand it over." The big thug asked her something. "You didn't come to save this kid?" She looked at him. "What strange clothes. If you asked me if I had any connection to him, then I'd have to say no." The big one replied back. "Then you've got no business with us! If someone stole from you, it was that brat who just ran by!" One of the other thugs added to help her. "Yeah! Go that way! She ran past us!" It then panned back to the girl. She put her hand on her chin, as if she was thinking of something. Bidashal noticed something though, and that was her ears. "Those ears she has. She is not human. Tiffania, what race is she." Tiffania looked closely. "An elf most likely. She has those pointy ears. But something tells me that I might be wrong. Her ears are more human-like though. We'll have to see what this shows tells us, but she is certainly elven for sure." The girl in the show continued to speak. "It doesn't seem like they're lying. I have to hurry!" She then ran past the thugs, which they gave a sigh of relief. This didn't last long however, as she turned back. "But regardless of that...I can't over look what is going on here. She then raised her right hand, and it looks like magic consolidating. Three ice particles formed that hit the thugs, knocking them away. "Water magic? She is a water magic user?!" Louise said as she watched that mysterious girl take out the thugs that were beating up Subaru. One of ice particles fell back down and vanished. Suabru saw that. "Magic?" The silver haired thug with the dual blades stood back up. "You little brat...I don't care if you can use magic, I'll kill you! You think you can take on the both of us at once!?" The mysterious girl replied back. "I see you point. The odds are against me."

A different male voice came in. "How about we even the odds, then?" It then showed a cat with grayish fur and a ring piercing on his left ear. He was holding a purple purse of sorts. It was a cat creature. "A familiar!?" Saito said to himself. "Well, familiars comes in all animals and flavors, I guess." The cat familiar then winked his left eye, a heart effect came out. "Awwwwwww, how cute!" Tiffania said. The half-elf was so into this show that she wanted to see more scenes. It then zoomed out to show the cat familiar in her left hand. One of the thugs was taken aback. "You're a spiritual arts user? Correct. Back off now and I won't go after you. Decide quickly, I'm in a hurry." The one with the dual blades got triggered. "You bitch! Next time I see you, I'll make you regret this!" The cat familiar replied back with his own threat. "Do anything to her and you'll never live it down. Not that you'll live much longer." This caused the the three thugs to run off in fear. Subaru watched as they left, then he turned back to the girl. "You're a lifesaver. Thanks." She replied back. "Don't move." The girl was looking back at Subaru, and he looked back. Theo watched the scene. He noticed that Subaru was blushing. "AHAHAHAHAHA! Subaru blushed! You see, his cheeks turned red!" Saito's crew looked closer and noticed the same thing that Theo did. Subaru then averted his eyes, which the girl took notice. "See? You averted your eyes because you have a guilty conscience! Looks like my judgement was spot-on." The cat questioned her judgement. "Are you sure? I think that's how any male would've reacted. I didn't sense any malice behind it at all." The girl retorted. "You be quiet, Puck. You know who stole my insignia, don't you?" Subaru looked at her. "Sorry, but I really don't have the slightest idea." The girl looked at Subaru with that tsundere face. "What? Wait, really? Did I really take a detour for nothing?" Subaru advised her to get along. "You should probably head after her, little missy. I could help..." Subaru then got up, only to fall on his back again.

Saito looked at Subaru on the 4K TV. "He's already flirting with that girl. Not even a minute after meeting her too." This earned him a hair pulling my Louise. "About about you, peaking at girls boobs and peeping in the women's bath?" Saito waved his hand rapidly, "No. NO! That was an accident! Trust me!" Louise crossed her hands. "Hmph!" Meanwhile, Puck saw that Subaru fell on his back. "Aww, you shouldn't try to get up. What should we do? It's none of our business. He won't die. We'll just leave him." Puck looked at the girl again. "Really?" The girl replied back. "Yes, really." Puck, knowing this girl for a long time, countered. "You say that, but I bet you'll still help him." She argued back. "I will not!" Puck countered again, "Yeah, right." It was getting more heated by the moment. "Absolutely not! I am not going to save him!" Saito knew that she was acting lot like like Louise. "Now she is using the tsundere card." Subaru, on the other hand was awake and looked at her talking to Puck. "She's super cute even when she's mad. That's a fantasy world for you." Luctiana saw this. "Yep, Subaru has already started to like her. I bet you, he'll fall faster than you can say 'Mama-mia'!" Subaru blacked out, which led to the next scene. It looks like he is in the lap of someone, but Saito's crew didn't know who. Subaru woke up. "Is this someone's lap?" A female voice replied back. "You're awake?" Subaru is blushing once again. Theo chuckled at this sight. "He already likes the girl, I guarantee you. It's so obvious." The scene then showed Subaru replying to the girl, "I didn't know cute girls were this hairy...Wait, that can't be right!" It turned out that he was lying on Puck's lap. Subaru looked right back at Puck. "It's a little something we did for you so that you'd be comfortable until you woke up." To say that Subaru wasn't freaked out was an understatement. He shakes his head numerous times. "Seriously, stop talking like that. No sane guy confuses a cat for the main heroine!" Puck scratched his backside. "Aww, making myself bigger was worth it to see you so happy." Subaru replied back. "I'm not happy! Sorry about all of this. You even stayed with me while I was unconscious."

The girl replied back. "Don't get the wrong idea. I only stay because I wanted to ask you a few things. Both healing your wounds and having Puck be your pillow until you woke up were done for my own benefit. So I need you to repay me in kind." Theo looked at her. "Own benefit? Unlikely. She helped a stranger, even when it would delay her getting that emblem of hers. That's a personality I like. A selfless person, who puts others first before her." Back in the anime, Subaru replied to the girl. "You're making such a big deal out of such a normal favor." She replied back. "No such thing. You have some idea who stole my insignia, right?" Subaru tried to recall back. "Insignia? You mean one of those badge things that show your allegiance?" The girl replied back. "It has a jewel in the center, and it's about this big." She showed the size with her right hand." Subaru looked at her. "Sorry, but no matter how many times you ask me, I have no idea." She replied back. "I see. That's fine. But you gave me the information that you know nothing in return for healing you, so your debt's paid off." She gave off that tsundere behavior. "Well, I'm in a hurry, so I'm going now. Your wounds should be better now, but next time, don't do something as dangerous as wandering into a deserted alley alone." She was pointed at Subaru as she talked. She then waved her left hand left and right."I'm not concerned. I'm just warning you. If that happens to you again, saving you won't be of any benefit to me, so don't expect me to help." She ran off. Saito looked at this, and this is how Louise acted sometimes. "Talk about tsundere." Saito said to himself. Both Puck and Subaru looked at the mysterious silver haired girl. Puck apologized. "Sorry. She's so insincere. Don't take it the wrong way." The girl walked off. Subaru commented on this. "Insincere? That's an understatement. She's in such a hurry to find what was stolen from her, yet she stopped to help me." It then showed her long silver hair again. "And she even came up with that lame excuse so I didn't feel like I owed her. All for a total stranger. Anyone who lives like that..." Subaru then went to grab his belongings and chase after her. "...is gonna end up wasting their whole life!"

Subaru went to go after the girl. "Hey! Wait up!" The girl turned back. "What? Just so you know, I can only spend a little more time with you." Subaru replied back. "I think you're being a little lenient...Forget that. You lost something important, right? Let me help you." The girl was confused. "But you said you don't know anything-" Subaru replied back. "I remember her face. That's something! I'll know if I see her again!" The girl looked at Subaru again. "You're very strange. Just so you know, I can't do anything to thank you." Subaru saw this. "I don't need you to. I want to help because I'm trying to thank you." Once again, the silver haired girl replies back. "I didn't do anything to earn your thanks. I told you that you've already paid me back for healing your wounds." Subaru countered with his own. "Okay, fine. I'm gonna help you for my own sake. My objective is... Let's see...Yeah! One good dead per day!" The girl was conflicted. Puck helped her out. "I don't sense any malice. I think you should accept his offer. The more shields between yourself and the ruffians, the better, after all." Subaru got agitated. "That's all you want me around for!?" The girl answered his question. "I mean it, though. I can't do anything to thank you." Subaru replied back. "No problem. Just leave it to me!"

"Hmm, interesting turn of events." Luctiana said. Tiffania was wondering what was going to be next. "Saito-san, does that mean that silver haired-elf accepted his proposal?" Saito nodded yes. Meanwhile, the anime shifts to another scene where it showed Subaru and the girl asking for people who was the thief. In one brief cutscene, it showed Subaru trying to get into a building. The girl tug on him and point to the sign. "Apparently, Subaru can't read the text." Saito said as he observed the scenes. "Theo, can you read them." The silver haired elf looked at the screen. Since he was from Lugnica, he could read the sign. "Um. It says 'Do not enter'. That is what it says." They are then showed a scene with the thief's face on it in hopes of generating leads. The next scene then led to Subaru touching a kid in the shoulder for any leads. It then cut to a scene of the on flowing traffic, followed by a shot of Subaru and the girl at the top floor of what seems like a residential building. "I talked big, but isn't this city too huge to find one little thing in?" Subaru said as he got the view of the capital. "That's what she said." Luctiana said, unable to resist making a dirty joke. This earned a glare from Bidashal. "Luctiana! This isn't the time for your sexual innuendos!" Meanwhile, the girl answered Subaru's question. "It's the capital of Lugunica. You didn't even know that, um..." Meanwhile, Puck mentioned something. "That's right. We haven't exchanged names yet. Shall we all introduce ourselves?" Subaru replied with the same cheery response. "Oh yeah, you're right. I'll introduce myself first, then." He then went into a bizarre looking pose, with his right hand pointing up in the sky, with his left fist clenched. "My name is Natsuki Subaru. Not only I'm clueless, I'm also broke beyond compare! Nice to meet ya!" This caused every one in Saito's room to cringe at Subaru's behavior. Puck knew that made him look like an idiot. "When that's all you say, you really do sound hopeless. He then pulled a 360 rollover. "And I'm Puck! Nice to meet you!" He then went into Subaru's hand. "Aww...that's really cute." Louise said as she watched the cat familiar. The girl in the anime was surprised at Subaru's actions. It's very unusual to see someone touch a spirit so casually. Where are you from?" Subaru answered, knowing where he is from. "Well, following the usual pattern, a small island nation to the east." Theo watched this. "In other words, Subaru-kun is referring to Japan. Am I right, Saito-san?" Saito looked at Theo. "That's right.

Subaru is referring to Japan. Good thing to know that he is also from my place as well." Meanwhile, the girl was confused. "Lugnica is the most easternmost nations on our continental map. There's no nation east of here." This took Subaru by surprise. "No way, really? There's nothing east of here?" The girl looked at him. "You have no idea where you are, you have no money, you can't read, and you have no one you can rely on. You might be in an even more precarious position than me, um...Subaru, was it?" Once again, Subaru's face turned red. "Yes, that's my name." Saito looked at Subaru's body language. "This guy is starting to like her. For sure." Puck then looked at Subaru. "You know, now that I take a closer look, you're pretty well-built." Subaru replied to Puck's observations. "I do work out everyday. When you're a hikikomori, who's gotta guard his house, that's the least you can do." Louise was confused at one of Subaru's words. "Hikikomori? What does that mean, Saito?" Saito shook his head. "Hikikomori means a person who wall themselves away from society, often staying in their house for days. I don't know how you can even live a life like that." In the anime, the girl was confused as well. "I'm not sure I understand what a 'hikikomori' is, but basically, you're from a respectable family, right?" She then went to touch Subaru's hands. "H-Hey-" Subaru said, surprised at her sudden movement. She commented at his fingers. "Your fingers show that too. They're very pretty. They're evidence that you don't live like a peasant at all. And your muscles don't look like the kind you gain from working." Subaru changed the subject, blushing evident on his face. "S-So anyway, now that I know your cat's name now, but I haven't heard yours yet." The girl replied with the most infamous name to Subaru, wanting him to to be indebted to her. "My name?" Subaru wanted to now. "Yeah." Seconds later, the name came out. "I'm...Satella." Saito's crew watched as normal, but Theo's face became serious. Saito noticed his body language change. "Why would she call herself Satella?" Louise said. Theo turned to her, but this time, his tone was serious. "Satella was the name of a infamous half-elf that was known as the Witch of Envy. She inherited all of the genes of the other six witches, and destroyed half of my world. Fortunately, 4 figures stopped her and sealed her away. In reality, she is not even dead. She is still alive to this day." Saito was bewildered. "If that's the case, then why don't they off her in the first place?" Theo shook his head, "Unfortunately, she is very strong. They say that she is invincible, and can have regeneration abilities. And she can slow down time as well." Bidashal has seen this type of magic before, offering a suggestion to Theo. "Satella's powers could be easily countered by our elven magic here. We have negation magic that would dumb her down to be a normal person. Once that is the case, you can chip away at her." Theo looked a Bidashal. "You're right. She is only strong because of her magical abilities. Now only if we can erase her from the world, Lugnica would be a better place."

The mention of Satella's name caused Subaru have a confused face, while Puck was shocked. She then continued, "I have no family name. You can just call me Satella." Subaru, having no idea who Satella was, commented on her name. "I see. Satella, huh? That's a nice name." The girl was surprised. "Eh?" Puck sighed at her comment. "You have terrible taste." He went back in her hair. Subaru looked at her. "Okay, time to get back to asking around!" It then cut to a view of the square again. The girl called Subaru again when she saw a girl and pointed towards her. "Hey, Subaru...Don't you get the feeling that she's lost?" Subaru looked at the girl. She was pretty short, around 5-6, with red-like boots, pink sweater, and green hair and eyes. Subaru was more concerned about the search. "I mean yeah, but what about our questioning?" The girl didn't want to ignore this, being the selfless person she is. "That's important too, but if she's lost, we have to do something. The girl was starting to cry. "I'm in no place to talk after you saved me, but do you understand the position we're in?" The girl looked at Subaru. "But...She's crying! Can't you see that, Subaru?" Subaru looked at her. "If you can't do this with me, that's fine. Thanks for all your help, Subaru. I'll handle it on my own from here. After I help that little girl." The girl then walked over to the kid. "I'm sorry I'm not the one you're looking for. So what's the matter? Aren't your mom and dad with you?" The girl started to cry again. "H-Hey...Don't cry. I won't do anything to you, okay?" Subaru then pulled out his 10-yen coin. "What I have here is one ridged 10-yen coin. I will now clutch it tightly in my hand. One, two, three, and..." It seemed like Subaru was trying to do a magic trick of sorts. "Wow, imagine that!" The little girl was confused. Subaru gave her a smile. "Now let's see where that coin was hiding." Turns out that it was in the little girl's hair. She was surprised at this. Subaru continued on. "You can keep it. It's rare, so don't lose it." The girl thanked Subaru. "Thank you!" It then showed her walking, with 'Satella' and Subaru at her sides. "I see. You got separated from your mom, huh? Hey, it'll be fine. Just leave it to the two of us. We'll find her for you in no time. When we do this, people who don't know us probably think we're a married couple and a child, huh? How embarrassing." Saito's crew chucked at this scene. "Well look that, they look like a family walking though the market!" Luctiana said. It reminded her of what her family would be like with her future husband in the future. 'Satella' reacted to Subaru's remarks. "At the very best, I can only see you as her older brother." Subaru reacted to that statement. "What makes you think I'm so much younger than you!?" The little girl saw her mom and ran up to her. "Oh, mommy!" Her mom embraced her. "Mommy!" Subaru commented on the scene. "Looks like she found her." 'Satella' was happy as well. "Yeah. I'm glad."

"Good thing she found her parents there. I was concerned for her." Theo said. Saito and Louise nodded at his comment. The next scene showed Subaru and 'Satella' at a fountain-like place with a arch bridge in the middle. "So...I think we just wasted a bunch of time, but what benefit will you insist we got out of this?" 'Satella' replied back with her tsun side. "That's easy. Now we can continue our search with our minds at ease, right? Anyway, why did you help me? You were against the idea." Subaru replied back. "I could say I just wanted to show off my magic trick, but that'd be a lie. Remember? I'm helping you find your insignia as my good deed of the day." 'Satella' replied back, "But since you helped that little girl, isn't your one good deed over with?" Subaru responded with his usual giddiness, "There's no holes in that comeback! Come on, it doesn't hurt to do more than one nice thing in a day, right? I just got tomorrow's out of the way. My plan is to get a week's worth of good deeds take care of early!" Satella looked at him. "Subaru, you're the type that basically wastes your whole life, aren't you?" Subaru took offense at this. "You're the last person I want to here that from." 'Satella' was looking at the scenery of Lugnica's capital. "You're not a bad kid, though." Subaru didn't know her age. "Why are you treating me like I'm younger than you again? I doubt there's too many years between us." 'Satella' continued to look at the city. "I don't think you'll get anywhere guessing that. I'm a half-elf." Subaru was taken by surprise. He looked at 'Satella', at her beauty. She had her head down, with her hands clumped together. "Now I get it." Subaru said. "No wonder I thought you were so cute! Elves are always beautiful, right?" Theo watched the scene. "Subaru playing the flirting game yet again. Ah, I used to remember when I was younger. I did the same thing as well. Wait, my daughter was a half-elf as well. Don't tell me. No, it can't be her. It's only a show called Re:Zero!" Tiffania was analyzing the show. _"So, it's true. This girl is a half-elf. A half-elf like me. She does have a nice personality, much like mine. She's naive like me too."_

This comment by Subaru took 'Satella' by surprised. She looked back at Subaru, who was confused. "What?" 'Satella' elaborated. "Didn't you hear me? I said I'm a half-elf." Subaru heard her. "Yeah, I heard you." 'Satella' then got down from the arc bridge and covered her head with her hands in a squat position. Subaru was worried. Puck came out of Emilia's hair and cat punched Subaru in the face. "What did you do that for?" Puck answered. "I just had to do something about this unbearable tingle I'm feeling!" Subaru looked at Puck. "I can't accept being hit for a reason like that. Though I'll forgive you because you're so soft." Puck kept on going. "I didn't hit you out of anger or anything. The opposite, in fact." 'Satella' looked at Subaru. "Subaru, you're such a dunderhead!" Subaru responded, "Dunderhead? Who says that nowadays? And why are you insulting me?" 'Satella' went in her tsundere mode. She then stood back up "Hmph! Whatever! More importantly, we have to get back to the search." She began walking. "Hey, hang on! Running around aimlessly never ends well. There's a basic rule of searches." Subaru said. 'Satella' was confused by this. "A basic rule of searches?" Subaru answers. "Yep. You revisit the crime scene a hundred times. Where was your insignia stolen?" It then cut to the Appa storeman again. "So you see, it seems the crime happened right around here, so I came back to this fruit stand after valiantly telling her to leave it all to me." The appa man looked at Subaru. "You again? I thought I had a customer, but it's just the broke kid." Subaru responded to his remark. "Do you really want to take that attitude? Haven't you noticed something different about me?" The appa man was perplexed. "Like what?" Subaru showed off the half-elf she brought with her. "Just look who I brought with me! I brought someone who just might become a regular!" 'Satella' entered in. "Um, Subaru...You seem to have some weird expectations of me, but I don't have any money either." She then made a funny laughing face with her left hand on her left face. Subaru was shocked. "Huh!? Seriously?" The Appa man commented on Subaru and 'Satella' being broke. "So now that I've got two broke customers, what did you want to say to me, bud?" Subaru replied. "We're actually looking for someone, and we were hoping you could answer a few questions..." The appa man objected. "It's called sarcasm! I have no time for dirt-poor losers! Get outta here!" Just then, a girls voice came from the left. "Hey, mister!" It was the child and her mom again. "Thanks for your help earlier." Subaru looked at the child and her mom. "What brings you back here?" The woman replied. "It's my husband's shop, so were just stopping by." Subaru put his hands up. "Husband?" She ran to her father. "Hey, attagirl. Wait, you know these broke losers?" The woman answered her husband. "Our little girl got lost and they helped her find me." The little girl looked at 'Satella' "Pretty lady, here!" It was a rose pendant for 'Satella' "Please accept it." The woman added. "She's trying to thank you in her own way. 'Satella' took the pendant. "Thank you" She then put in her her left side. She gave the little girl a sweet, warm smile. Both Subaru and 'Satellla' smiled at her. Then, the appa man cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. You helped my daughter, and I want to thank you. You can ask me anything." Once again, both Subaru and 'Satella' smiled. "There, you see? It came back around and worked in our favor!"

"She has the purest, kindest heart. She is truly a good person." Bidashal said. Luctiana agreed with her uncle's statement. "Yes, she is. Did you see that? She went out of her way to help someone, even though it won't benefit her. That is the heart of a good person." Meanwhile, it was now dusk now in the anime, with Subaru and Satella going through the slums. "The air, the atmosphere, and most likely, the attitudes of the people living her are awful. Is she really here?" There was flashbacks to the appa man looking at the poster with his daughter. "It might be that Felt girl. You said a nimble little blond girl, right? She's well-known in the slums. Dunno where she lives, though." Subaru and 'Satella' were walking through the slums. "Maybe someone will tell us if we ask." Puck was on her left shoulder. "No one wants to sell out one of their own, so I don't think that would work." Subaru suggested something. "Maybe we should come back later." Puck continued to advice 'Satella', "Whether you stay or leave, you should decide quickly. I'm almost out of time." Subaru was confused. "Out of time? What's that mean?" Puck answered. "As cute as I look, I'm still a spirit. It takes a lot of mana to maintain a physical form. So at night, I return to the crystal I was summoned form, and prepare for the emergence of the sun. I usually try to keep myself here from nine to five." Subaru watched Puck. "Nine to five? You sound like a civil servant. Employment terms for spirits are harsher than I thought." 'Satella' looked at Puck. "We'll be fine without Puck. We have to keep going." Puck was clearly tired, he was yawning. "I thought you'd say that. But sorry. I'm at my limit." Subaru looked at Puck resting. "It almost looks like he's dying." The half-elf looked at Puck. "Sorry to work you so hard, Puck. We'll take it from here, so get some rest." Puck turned to 'Satella' "Don't do anything reckless. If you have to, use the odo to summon me back." She nodded. Puck then turned to Subaru. "Okay, take care of the rest, Subaru." He then went off into multiple orbs and went back in the crystal. Subaru was excited. "Come to think of it, I haven't been alone with a girl since I was in grade school!" Saito took note of this. "Since grade school. Yikes, his life in Japan must have sucked. I got some girls in high school at least. Did he make a fool of himself in middle and high school?" Luctiana made her prediction. "Most likely. Maybe he became more isolated as time went on. We really don't know." 'Satella' looked at Subaru. "Don't get any weird ideas. I can use magic." Subaru looked at her. "I won't! The bigger issue is how we should find Felt now." 'Satella' was at a wooden bridge. "I'll ask the lesser spirits." Subaru was confused yet again. "Lesser spirits?" 'Satella' made it clear to Subaru. "Lesser spirits are beings that haven't become spirits yet. They grow over time, and when they gain the strength and self-awareness, they become full spirits, like Puck." She began to chant, and Subaru watched. Blue light orbs began to circle and float around her. Subaru looked around at the orbs, then back at 'Satella'. She was concentrating, then it showed Subaru's face, clearly blushing. Simply, Subaru was enchanted by her. The scene then faded to black.

It was now night time now. "It's getting more and more desolate." 'Satella' said as she walked through the slums with Subaru. "Does she really live in a place like this?" As they walked, the half-elf continued. "The lesser spirits said they saw someone who looked like Felt going in this direction." Just then, a person living in the slums walked by. "Hey, bro! Does a girl named Felt live up this way?" The man was confused. "Felt? Nothing that way but Old Man Rom's loot house. Did Felt steal something from you guys? Well, good luck trying to negotiate it back. Live strong." It was night time now, and they came to Old Man Rom's house. "Why do I have to pay to get back something that was stolen from me?" Subaru wanted to go in first. "Well, anyway, let me handle this. I'll do the talking." 'Satella' gave the go ahead. "Okay. I'll let you handle it." Subaru turned to her. "I thought you'd put up more of a fight. Going off how you've been up to now, 'Something as useless as you will handle this? That's too funny! I can't feel my sides!' And I'd be hurt, but still make up my mind to help you anyway." 'Satella' disagreed. "I wouldn't say something that mean. Of course, I'd my lying if I said you haven't been holding me back..." Of course, Subaru took offense to this. "Did you really have to say that!?" Satella continued. "But...I'll try believing in you. It'll be a bonus if it actually goes well." Subaru was wanting to impress her. "If you looked up at me and said, 'Do your best for me! I'd feel a lot more motivated.'" Satella countered. "I can't force myself to say something like that. But still...Good luck." Subaru was thankful for her to say that. "Yeah, thanks. I'll go in first. You stay outside and keep watch. I won't be out too late, but you can have dinner without me." Satella was a little annoyed. "Don't say silly things like that. Be careful." Subaru ensured that. "Sure, sure. Don't come in until I say it's safe, Satella." Subaru was confused, as she gave him a bewildered look. "What?" Subaru said. She shook her head. "N-No. It's nothing. I'll apologize if you get my insignia back. "This is a death trap. Seriously." Theo said. Saito was wondering why. "Theo, what makes you say that?" Emilia's father replied back. "Don't you think...it's a little too quiet. That building also pitch black. I got a bad feeling about this." Meanwhile, Subaru entered the building. "Excuse me..." He shined the light everywhere. There was nothing out of the ordinary. "Now, am I walking into a demon nest or a snake pit? In a fantasy world, either one is totally plausible...This is all stolen loot? And why isn't there anyone here? A place that deals with stolen goods can only be so careless." It then showed Subaru walking, until he hit a blood pool. Subaru went to pan the light to uncover a body, on the floor. Subaru was shaken by this. It was the corpse of a muscular man of sorts, his face covered with blood. Subaru was painting in shock. Just then, a female voice came through. "Oh, dear, you found that? Well, wrong place, wrong time. Yes, just the wrong place at the wrong time." Just then, something struck Subaru. "Ow, that burns..." It then panned to Subaru looking at his stomach. He was bleeding out! "That's not good! He just got sliced in the stomach!" Luctiana said, shocked at the turn of events. Saito's crew was speechless as well. "Oh, crap... Is all of this my blood?" Just then, Subaru coughed up blood. "Subaru-san is in trouble!" Tiffania said as she looked on at the scene. "I'm in deep shit. Seriously deep shit!" Suddenly, 'Satella' walked in as well. "Subaru? What's wrong? Subaru?" Subaru was trying to warn her. "No... Run away, now!" As 'Satella' was walking, she was cut down as well. Subaru was trying to reach his hand out to her. "Just wait...I...will...save you!" Then everything faded to black.

Then, it cut to a scene of the Appa man. "What's the matter, bud?" His voice was distorted, and the vision was blurry. "You look like you saw a ghost." It then showed Subaru at the store once again. "What? I asked you about the appa. The appa! Do you even have money?" Subaru was even more confused. "What?" The appa man looked at him. "Don't "what" me! The appa! Are you buying it or not?" Subaru replied. "Oh, no, like I said, I'm broke beyond compare." Appa man replied back. "The hell? If you're just browsing, then move along. I'm running a business here! I have no time for window-shoppers!" Just then, it cut to Subaru looking around, and that weird eerie chant music. Subaru looked around, as he was confused. He then looked at his groceries items. Subaru was at a loss for words. "What's going on? Wasn't it dark just a few minutes ago? The wound on my belly is gone...Oh, right! Satella! Man, and Puck was counting on me to take care of her. I have to get back to that shop!" Subaru then rushed back to the alley. It was the three thieves that Subaru fought before. "Hey, why do you look so spooked?" The white haired one talked next. "If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up whatever you've got!" Subaru was annoyed. "You guys again? Did you see I was alone and decide to get revenge?" The white haired one was confused. "Huh? The hell are you on about?" The little one added in as well. "Are you nuts?" The big one joined in as well. "Don't worry about it. Just leave everything you've got on the ground and we'll let you go." Subaru was going to trick them, "Okay, fine. Everything I've got, huh? Whatever. I don't have time for this." The little one then taunted him. "Now act like a dog. Get on all fours like a dog and howl, "Help me!"" That pissed off Subaru. "Don't get ahead of yourselves, assholes!" He then went to beat up all of them. Saito's crew cheered on. "I don't have time for your shit! Stay the hell out of my way!" Subaru then made his way to Old Man Rom's house again. Subaru hesitated in knocking the door. "Am I stupid? After coming this far, I can't leave without answers!" He knocked on the door three times. "Is anyone there?" He the knocked again. "Hello? Someone's in there, right!? Please answer me! Please!" His knocking became more desperate. Just then, Old Man Rom came out. "Shut yer trap! You tryin' to bust my door down when you don't even known the signal or password!?" Subaru was surprised, as he saw his dead body. "You're..."

Subaru was now back in the Loot House with Old Man Rom. He was at the bar, with Rom as the bartender. "What are you fidgety for? Are you balls chafin' ya that much?" Subaru looked at Rom. "I'm not worried about the position of my privates! And don't start a conversation with a dirty joke!" Rom responded. "You're already interrupting my evening booze. You'll kill me if you start talkin' about boring stuff now." Subaru watched him drink. "Don't drink while the sun's still up. You'll die young. Actually, this is a dumb question, but...Have you died recently?" At that question, Rom starting laughing. "Well, I admit I'm an old man at death's door, but I ain't really died yet." Subaru asked more questions. "Okay, then have you seen a girl with silver hair?" Rom looked at Subaru. "Silver hair? I ain't seen anyone that eye-catching." Subaru wondered to himself. _"Was it all a dream? Then exactly how much of it was a dream, and why am I in this world?"_ Rom asked Subaru about his reasons for being here. "So what are you doin' here anyway?" Subaru responded to Rom. "Oh, I'm looking for an insignia. It belongs silver-haired girl who helped me out. I don't know why, but it's important to her. I think she said it had a jewel in the center." Rom commented. "An insignia with a jewel...Sorry, but I ain't got anything like that." Subaru was not satiated with his answer. "Are you sure? Try to think! Maybe you're just old and senile?" Rom was best when he was drunk. "If I can't remember when I'm at my best, with booze in me, the ony explanation is that I don't know. But...I've got someone bringing in some goods later. I'm told it's some fine loot. There's a good chance it could be what you're lookin' fer." Subaru responded. "Is a girl named Felt bringing it in?" Rom was taken aback. "What, you even know who swiped it? Of course, whether you'll be able to afford it is another matter." Subaru had something under his sleeve. "It's no use trying to size me up. I'm as broke as they come, after all." Rom replied back. "Ain't no use talkin' about it, then." Subaru wanted to trade something. "That's not true. I can always try trading something." Rom took an interest in this. "Now that you say it, you've got some unusual stuff there." Subaru looked at his bag. "That's right. For example, this is a corn potage snack. It's super tasty!" He then pointed to the snack he was holding in his right hand. Tiffania was a huge fan of those snacks. It made her lip watery. "Yum. I wish I had that right now." Rom looked at the bag. "That's food?" He then took the bag from Subaru and opened the bag. Rom dug straight into it. "I see! What an odd flavor! These would go great with booze!" Subaru watched. "Right? Right? Hey! Don't start eating them!" Rom continued eating."Well, I dunno what you plan to trade, but you'll have to come back after Felt gets here. Mm, that's good!"

"I wonder what Subaru-san is going to trade?" Tiffania said to the others. Saito was thinking for a moment. He then remembered Subaru's flip phone. "Most likely, Subaru will trade his flip phone, that outdated pile of shit." It was now dusk, with Subaru sitting outside. He looked at the desolate slums, with no one in sight. The only people was a kid and a woman. "I guess there's those with money and those without it in any world. Still, the difference here is clear as day." The camera panned from the center of the capital to the slums. Just then, Felt walked up to Subaru. "Hey, what're you doing there? You're in my way." Subaru turned to see Felt in front of him. "Felt!" She was surprised that this stranger knew him. "You know me?" Subaru came out with a lie. "Of course I do! I've been waiting for you!" Felt continued talking. "What for?" Subaru looked at Felt. "Wait, are you saying you don't remember me?" Felt was confused. "Have we met? You know, I'm a busy girl, so I don't remember most people I meet unless they leave a huge impression." Luctiana shook her head. "More like stealing from the rich like Robinhood. Whatever." The anime continued. Subaru was trying to clear things up with Felt. "That was pretty huge of you ask me, but...Well, forget it. I want to negotiate for the insignia you have." A smile came from Felt's face. "Oh, so that's it, huh? All right, I'll hear you out." Felt then knocked on the door. "For a rat...poison. For a white whale...A harpoon. To the noble dragon lord, we are...Shitbags." Saito's face was taken aback. "Shitbags?! You have got to be joking. That for a password? Man, who's idea was that to make it?" Old Man Rom then opened the door. "Sorry it took so long, Old Man Rom. My target was pretty stubborn. It took awhile to shake them off." Felt and Subaru entered the room once again. Subaru watched Felt chug down a mug of milk. Felt noticed something off with the milk. "Hey, Old Man Rom, did you water down this milk? It's nasty." Rom pounted at Felt's remark. "C'mon, I give you something outta the goodness of my heart, and you call it gross?" He then put his hand on Felt's hair. Subaru looked on. "You two are closer than I had either hoped or expected. I'm feeling left out over here." Felt looked at Subaru's face. "Don't talk like a wuss when you've got a face almost as scary as Old Man Rom's."

It then panned back to Subaru making a deadpan face. "People have said a lot of things about me, but you think I can compare with that ugly mug!?" Felt replied back. "Okay, I went too far that time. Sorry, bro." Rom joined on the discussion. "You two aren't banding together to try and piss me off, are you?" Felt put her cup back on the bar table. "Okay, well, how about we get down to business? What are you willing to pay?" Subaru wanted to get it done. "You don't waste any time. Before I answer that, you do have the insignia, right?" Felt smiled again. "Of course I do. See?" She then showed the insignia. It was the one with Lugnica's emblem and that red stone glowing in the middle. "This one's got a jewel in it, so I had to work pretty hard to get it. If you can pay enough to match my effort, we'll both be happy." Subaru looked at her. "I have no money." Felt was a sticker with money. "Then we have nothing to discuss!" Subaru continued on. "Sure, I don't have money, but I do have things worth money." He the pulled out his flip phone." Theo cringed at the outdated thing. "Ugh, that outdated piece of shit yet again. Couldn't he have got iPhone instead?" Subaru explain what that thing is. "What I have here is a magical device that can stop time for everyone, everywhere: a cell phone!" Theo tried to watch the video. "Can stop time? You mean a camera? That cell phone is a joke. Give me a break." He shrugged in annoyance. Felt wondered what that thing is. "What's that?" Rom was also wondering. "Never seen one of those before." Subaru then raised his phone up to take a picture. "Take this! Nine shots per second: Continuous Shot!" Both Felt and Rom were taken aback by the sudden bright light. They covered their eyes. "Whoa! Hey! What's that sound!? And that's way too bright!" Rom was pouting as well. "Are you trying to kill me!? Don't you go makin' light of this old man with dodgy tricks like that!" Subaru wanted to clear the misunderstanding. "Now hold on." Both Felt and Rom looked at the screen. "Is this..." It was a photo of them. "Them's me and Felt's faces. What sort of magic is that?" Meanwhile Saito chuckled. "That isn't magic. It's technology. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Theo nodded in agreement.

Subaru cleared it up. "Weren't you listening? This is a mystical item that can freeze a moment in time. With this, you can capture moments in time and store them forever." Felt was amazed at this thing. She has never seen anything like it before. "I see! That is amazing!" Rom was also awestruck. "Never seen the like. It that one of them metia I've been hearing about lately?" Subaru was confused by that word. "Metia"? Rom explain what the word means. "It's the name for devices that let people who haven't opened the gate use magic, like real magic users." Felt wanted it. "Just tell me what it's worth. What can I get for this metia thing?" This was a first time for Rom. "Well, it's my first time dealing with a metia too, but I'd say there's no doubt that it'll fetch more than that insignia." Subaru was excited. "Then that settles it! This cell phone for the insignia! Negotiations complete!" Felt interrupted him with the insignia in her hand. "Nope. Not yet." Subaru was wondering something. "Why not!?" Felt explained herself. "You're not the only one I'm negotiating with for this." Subaru was even more lost. "Huh?" Felt explained even more. "Besides, I only nabbed this insignia because I was asked to. My client told me I could get ten holy coins for it." Subaru was perplexed. "You already had a deal when you stole it? I don't even know what the value of ten holy coins is, but..." Rom interrupted. "That metia you've got is worth at least twenty holy coins. No, there are probably fanciers out there who'd pay more for a thing like that." Felt was exited. "Really!? That means I can get away from overcharging for it!" Subaru was wondering about this client. "So when and where are you meeting your client?" Felt assured him. "Don't worry. Negotiations will be held here. If a little thing like me dealt with them alone, I'd be suck if a client decided to bilk on me. But I don't have to worry with Old Man Rom here." They then heard three knocks from the door. More knocks came.

Rom was wondering the same thing. "Do they know the password?" Felt answered. "Oh, I didn't mention it. That's probably for me. I'll go check." Subaru looked at Rom. "You're okay with letting her use you like that?" Rom answered quickly. "Well, it ain't like we're total strangers. I've known her for a long time, so I don't mind helpin' her out." He then grabbed a club as a weapon. "You know, even I have to give a wry chuckle at the sight of someone looking like such a barbarian." Rom noted that. "Look where we are. Everyone around here is desperate to survive. It's common for youngsters to join forces with others in similar situations to keep themselves alive. But Felt ain't cut out for that. That's why I gotta look out for her." Tiffania commented on his personality. "So, Rom-san is hard on the outside, but soft on the inside. I kinda like that." Just then, Felt came in. "I was right. It was for me. Over here. Care to sit down?" Subaru looked at the door. There, was a woman that he seen. "There seem to be several outsiders here." Felt replied. "Well, I'd be in trouble if you bilked on me. We weaklings have our own brand of smarts." The woman looked at Subaru. "I know this older fellow, but who's the young man?" Felt replied. "This guy's your rival. He's the other person negotiating with me." Subaru looked at her. Elsa was drinking something. "I see. I understand the situation now. So that means you two will be bidding against each other. I don't really care who gets the insignia, so I'll sell it to the highest bidder." Tiffania gasped at the sight of her. "Oh no! It's her! That same woman who killed Subaru-san!" Louise also was taken aback. She was shaking at the thought of her stomach getting sliced down. Theo looked at the scene as well. "No doubt, it is her. That sadistic bitch!" In the anime, Elsa continued. "I think I like that personality of yours. So how much did this young man bid?" Subaru pulled out his phone. "I'm putting up this metia. It's a rare item, probably the only one of its kind in this world. That muscleman tells me it's worth no less than twenty holy coins." Elsa looked at the phone. "A metia...As it happens, the client sent me with some extra funds. Just so I'd be prepared to sweeten the deal." Subaru asked. "The client? So you're here as a proxy?" Elsa replied. "That's right. The client is the one who wants it. Would you happen to be in the same business?" Subaru retorted. "Being in the same business as me would mean being unemployed!" Felt commented. "So this unemployed guy has named a price that puts him far in the lead. What price is your master putting on it?" Elsa put out the coins. Felt was taken aback. "Twenty exactly." Rom said. Elsa continued. "Those are all the holy coins my employer sent me with. Is it not quite enough?" Rom looked at Subaru. "You're a man! Don't make such a pathetic face! And I told you that your metia is worth no less than twenty." Subaru gasped. Rom continued. "As I see it, victory in this deal is leaning towards the boy. Sorry for you and your employer, but you'd better bag up those coins and leave." Subaru was excited. "Hell yeah! Wh-what? What's wrong with a little victory pose? I'm psyched!"

Felt commented. "No said anything. Go as crazy as you want. I don't care as long as I get my profit." Subaru felt sorry for Elsa. "Sorry, Elsa-san. You'll probably get in trouble, huh?" Elsa looked at Subaru. "It's fine. It's my employer's fault for trying to underpay." She finished the last of her drink. "Well, this deal ended in disappointment for me, but I'll be taking me leave now. By the way, what do you intend to do with that insignia?" Bidashal looked at that quote. "No Subaru! Don't say it! Oh boy, please don't say it." Subaru replied to Elsa. "Oh, I'm gonna find its owner and return it to her." Elsa looked at Subaru. "Oh...So you're with them." Luctiana looked in horror. "Oh shit. This is the real Elsa. Damn, she is a cruel savage." In the anime, Felt dove Subaru out of the way. He was surprised. "Wh-What?" Felt was chewing on him. "Do you want to die, moron!?" Felt and Subaru looked at Elsa. "Oh, my. You dodged my strike." Rom went on the attack, but Elsa leaped out of the way. The swings had no effect on her. "This is my first battle to the death with a giant!" Rom was furious. "Quiet, little girl! I'll grind you up and feed you to the rats!" Rom kept swinging at Elsa, with it having no effect at all. He kept swinging his club, with no effect. "What the hell is he doing? Blindly swinging like that is foolishness!" Theo said as he watched the scene unfold. Subaru was worried. "This isn't good!" Felt reassured him. "Don't worry. There's no way Old Man Rom will lose." Rom continued the fight. "Take this!" Else countered by slicing his right arm off. Saito's crew watch in horror. "Oh...my. His arm got sliced off! That's just disgusting." Louise said. She almost barfed when she saw that. Felt was worried. "Old Man Rom!" He was wounded now. "Damn it!" Elsa interrupted. "Oh, I almost forgot. Rom charged at her. "I can at least take you with me!" Elsa then used one of the broken cups as a weapon. "Thank you for the milk." Rom was now dead. "I'll return this to you." Felt was angered. "You bitch...How dare you?" Elsa looked at Felt. "Oh? It seems that you have more courage your friend there. But if you resist, you might very well get hurt." Felt knew what she is going to do. "You'll kill me even if I don't fight back, you psychopath!" Elsa played with her knife. "If you move around, my hands might slip. I'm quite rough at handling blades, you see." Felt turned to Subaru. "Sorry you got caught up in this." She then took off. Subaru couldn't keep up. "I-I..." Felt used her ability. Elsa noticed. "Blessing of the Wind?"

Felt tried to land a hit. She missed. "How wonderful. I see you are loved by the world. I envy you!" Elsa counterattacked, striking Felt. Blood came out. She fell to the ground. Felt is dead too. Saito looked at the rest of his crew. "Guys, I don't think Subaru is gonna survive this at all." Luctiana agreed. "There is no way he can get out of this. I feel bad for him." Meanwhile in the anime, Elsa looked at Subaru. "The old man and girl have fallen, yet you remain still. Have you given up?" The was anger in his face. "D-Damn it..." It continued. "Oh, you finally stood up. It's less fun since you took so long, but still, not bad." Subaru's face was filled with rage, seeing Felt and Rom die before his eyes. Subaru charged towards Elsa. He tried to punch, only to have no effect. "It's meaningless, though. You're clearly a novice, and your movements are rough. You have no blessings or techniques. I was hoping I could squeeze some wisdom out of you, but you lack even that." That only angered Subaru. "Shut up! I still have my pride! After you put me through all of this..." Elsa looked at him. "I will acknowledge that you have extraordinary determination. If only you could've shown that sooner, things might have gone differently for those two." Subaru recalled the first loop, where he found the dead body of Rom and where Subaru first died. Elsa wanted to end this. "I think it's time to end this. I'll send you to meet the angels. Elsa came in to deliver the finishing blow. Subaru got into a fighting stance. Subaru saw the finishing blow and dodged and kicked Elsa away. She was aroused by this, evident in her blushing face. "Oh, my. I certainly felt that one." Subaru looked down. His stomach was sliced open. Again. "That makes it number two." Bidashal said. Elsa looked at him. "Are you surprised? I opened up your belly when we passed by one another. This is the one thing I excel at." Subaru collapsed the ground from those injuries. He was bleeding, with his second death imminent. Elsa walked over and looked at him. "I knew it...Your guts have such a lovely color!" Subaru was in pain. _"It hurts...It hurts...It hurts...It hurts... It hurts... it..."_ Elsa was sitting down. "Does it hurt? Are you suffering? In pain? Sad? Do you want to die?" Subaru's thoughts ran through. _"It doesn't hurt? Die? Am I dead? I'm still alive? When will I die? When will I die!? I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared."_ Theo could feel nothing but pity for this kid. "I feel so bad for Subaru. He didn't sign up for this shit! He was just living a normal life in Japan." Meanwhile, Elsa wallowed in Subaru's suffering. "Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly..." Tears were coming from his eyes _. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"_ Luctiana shook her head. "This is a prime example of PTSD right here. I mean, this is just cruel." Elsa continued on as Subaru kept repating,"I'm gonna die!". "Yes, you're slowly losing body heat...you're slowly growing cold..." Finally, Subaru was put out of his misery. Everything faded to black. _"Oh, I'm dead."_

Once again, Subaru was back at the Appa store. "What's the matter, bud? You look like you saw a ghost." He looked at the Appa man. "Hey, buddy. You okay?" Subaru then fainted. "I have no idea what's going on anymore..." The screen was black once again. Water woke up Subaru, which was by the Appa man. "You okay there, bud? Forget about the money. Here, just take these." In the Appa man hands was a cup of water and a Appa. Just then, 'Satella' walked by, Subaru saw her. His face was priceless. Theo laughed at that face, along with Tiffania and the others. Subaru wasted no time. "Hey, wait...Wait! Please, wait! Wait!" Subaru was running after her. "Satella!" The others looked at him, as if he was crazy. 'Satella' turned around to face Subaru. "Please don't ignore me! I guess it's my fault for going off on my own and not listening to you! But I was desperate! I went back to the loot house after that, but I couldn't find you..." She turned her head sightly. "I'm sorry for only thinking of myself. But I'm glad you're all right, Satella." Her face was shown, with her clearly being angry. "What's your problem? I don't know who you are, but don't call me by the name of the Jealous Witch! What is your problem!?" Subaru was confused. Eye shots of the girl's purple eyes with Subaru's reflection was shown. Finally, the name of the episode: "The End of the Beginning and the Beginning of the End." The episode was over. Saito's crew took some time to reflect what they saw.

"Well, that was a roller coaster of an episode! What a thriller it was!" Saito said, hyped by the episode. Theo was gathering his thoughts. "So that silver haired half-elf. It pretty obvious, but her name is not Satella. What is her actual name then? I really want to know. " Tiffania was a little confused. "So when Subaru-san died? He went back in time...right?" Theo confirmed Tiffania's assertion. "That's correct. When Subaru dies, he goes back to a certain point in time. In video gaming terms, I call that savestates. Savestates save a game at a certain point. If you die at a point in the game after that save, by loading it, you can reverse the death. Of course, you'll still have that death you made by mistake in your mind. Basically, that is the situation that Subaru-kun is in at the moment. Anything that happened after that savepoint never occurred, but the original person retain those memories. It's quite a PTSD inducing one at best. He was just minding his own business in Japan. What did he even do to deserve those deaths? And my goodness, he just got pulled from Japan with no reason whatsoever. It may be a boring life there, but at least you live in safety and with technlogy." Louise wanted to watch more, and so did the rest of the crew. "This episode has gotten me hooked. Let's watch episode 2!" Luctiana and Louise said at the same time. With that, Saito went to his Dell G7 and went to the second episode of Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World.

 ** _(in progress, this chapter does not tie into the next one)  
_**


	3. Welcome to Lugnica, ZnT Crew

_**At Saito's Mansion**_

It has been around a week since the Re: Zero anime watching was concluded by the elven crew. They were busy talking about it at the time. Eventually, even it reached the capital of Tristain, where Henrietta was watching the anime as well. At this moment in time, everyone gather around a table in Saito's mansion to discuss the anime as a whole. Bidashal shook his head at what he watched when they were back in episode 13. "Natsuki Subaru, why is he such a pain in the ass? What in the hell was that stupid meltdown he had there in the Royal Castle? What an embarrassment." Luctiana shook her head at this. "I thought he was a gamer for crying out loud! Did he even play Final Fantasy, or crap like that!? How did he not even think this through? And don't even get me started on that rant that he conducted to Rem in Episode 18." Theo raised his eyebrow. "Are you talking about that self-inflicted monologue?"

Luctiana clenched her fist. "Of course I am talking about that rant! What else would it be?" Meanwhile, Louise is whispering in Saito's ear. "Luctiana is getting quite riled about this." Sato shrugged. "She's like that all of the time if you get to her passionate side." He cleared his throat. "Luctiana, can you even blame him? He saw his love interest getting bashed from all sides. Plus, he's from Japan. People on Earth would do anything to protect the love of their life. He was not raised in a medieval society." Luctiana sighed. "True, you do have a point with that, Saito. But, I would like to make a statement. WHY IN THE HELL DID SUBARU NEEDED TO BRING UP WHAT HE DID IN THE REAL WORLD?! He said that he could have done anything on your Earth, Saito, but that's a bunch of nonsense. I doubt a normal kid around his age would have done any better in his place." Saito thought about it for a few moments. "That's a good point, Luctiana. I think this place that Subaru was placed in wanted to take a dump on him. I feel sorry for this guy. I fell through Louise's portal, while Subaru got whisked away without warning from that convenience store." Tiffania played with the clothing fibers on her legs. "Um…Subaru-san could have done little, back on Earth. After all, that place he claims to be from has no magic at all, so he can't train."

Luctiana was still riled up. "That damn idiot, thinking that not having lazy habits and a pampered life in the real world will have made a difference in Lugnica. Does that knucklehead not even realize that he lives in 21st century Japan, where technology, video games, and manga/LN/anime, are big things. A place with ZERO MAGIC, and no flying WHALES? He is being way….way too HARD on himself when he said he was a piece of trash. He's not. Not even close." Theo shook his head at this. He knew that Subaru was good at heart, but was bogged down by self-loathing and self-esteem issues. Theo looked back up and turned to Luctiana. "He's a good person for sure. Just a normal dude from Japan, I guess. At this moment of time, we don't really know his backstory for why he would be so disillusioned with the real world." Tiffania tilted her head. "Theo-san, you bring up yet another question. Why in the world did Subaru-san not even thinking of going back to um….his world, Japan? To be frank, why does he not even think about going back to Japan?"

Louise, with her pink eyes glared at Tiffania. "Maybe, Subaru does not even want to go back to his world? Did you even remember episode 1? Did you even look at Subaru's eyes? They had absolutely no light in them at all! Why would Subaru even want to go back to Japan anyway?" That reply earned an intense glare from Luctiana. "Did you see all of that suffering in Lugnica? Why in the hell he isn't trying to find a way back home? I don't care if he lived a worthless life as a NEET! At least he had technology, video games, and didn't have to worry about PTSD every single damn day! There's no magic in that world, and no monsters! Japan is a peaceful country! Why in the f…" Bidashal clapped his hands together. "That's enough, both of you." They both cowered. "Subaru, is a teenager that hated himself, okay? He was trying to brute force his way through everything. He felt powerless, and wanted to run away from everything. But it's not his fault that he is powerless over in Lugnica. Natsuki Subaru is from Earth, like Saito. Just a normal kid, I guess." Luctiana sighed. "I get way too emotional over stuff like this. I sure have change quite a lot, you know? Speaking of which, how is the Elven nation doing?" Theo looked up and pulled out his Note 9. "From the last updates from the government, the technology, computer, and video game craze has exploded over there in the last two years. Just now, they said that a lot of elves over there are playing against people from Earth and against people from Tristain. Likewise, Queen Henrietta has reported that the video game market in Tristain has exploded, with people selling computers and hardware from Earth." Louise flipped through her smartphone.

"Saito has changed our lives, forever. We will be ever grateful for him." She cuddled next to the boy. "Louise….you know, I just brought that idea here two years ago, and we experimented with that. Look at how far we come." Tiffania turned to the other elves after getting killed in PUBG Mobile. " _Damn! He one shotted me with a headshot."_ She gathered her thoughts. "Um, now that we are done with discussing the anime, can we look at Subaru's backstory? The anime doesn't give a really good insight into what his life was like, and I am interested in that." Bidashal raised an eyebrow. "You're interested in that stuff? I have an answer for you. You can find that on the Internet." Tiffania played with her blonde. "Okay…Bidashal-san. I'll find it…somehow." With that, Tiffania began her search on Subaru's backstory. Saito was relaxing on the back coach with Louise. "Do you guys think that there will be a season 2 of sorts?" Theo nodded. "From what I found on the web, and on Reddit, there is a high chance of it in the future, guess we'll have to keep an eye out of that. Also, thank this Materializer that we all have. Makes things super easy for us to work with. You know, I still wonder to this very day, that one question."

Saito lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm? This may sound impolite, but does this have to do with your daughter that you never seen for a long time?" Everyone in the living room noticed Theo's sorrowful expression. He looked at the bright blue sky that radiated outside, with the sun rays penetrating into the room. He nodded slowly. "Yes. That is what I am thinking of right now. L..leaving Emilia when she was a baby with my younger sister Fortuna, while me and my human wife were busy. That was the…biggest mistake of my life. I can never go back and undo those things. That is my biggest regret. If it wasn't for me, maybe she…maybe she." Theo felt his eyes getting watery. "The Re:Zero anime, showed her all grown up, a depiction of her. It doesn't…mean she looks like that for real. And…and…she…Emilia." Finally, Theo could take it anymore, and he began to sob into his hands. Louise looked at Saito and whispered to him. "This show must have been very hard on Theo, Saito. That Emilia….is his daughter. For real." Subaru looked at the weeping Theo. "Can you blame him? Re: Zero gave an insight into what his daughter may look like all grown up. Men aren't all that stoic, Louise. Sometimes, we have to let our guard down."

Theo clenched his heart. Seeing the Re:Zero anime, it caused him to have visions of Emilia, which felt like knives stabbing his gentle heart. He was in pain. Eventually, it got to the point where he needed to step out of the room. "I'm…sorry for this. I…have to step outside of Saito's mansion for a…little while." Everyone else watched as Theo stepped out and closed the door to the living room. Bidashal looked at the others. "I hope that someday, he'll be able to see his beloved Emilia once again." Luctiana kicked her legs up and down. "Welp then, I hope we have our Materializer shit in our elven storage, just in case something happens." Tiffania raised her eyebrows while she was in the middle of PUBG Mobile. "Alright, almost there….KUSO! Idiotic teammate. I know that loot is tempting, but really?! Jeez." Luctiana looked at Tiffania. _"Over two years of gaming made some of her innocence disappear. She's a lot more feisty than before, and gets riled up a lot more, like I."_ Tiffania made it to the last 5, but the ring was on the opposite side. She tried to bandage herself up, but got killed in the process by another duo squad coming from the northwest. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I fell short again! Augh! Unbelievable!"

Luctiana looked at Tiffania. "Looks like you lost another match in your PUBG Mobile, eh?" Tiffania glared at Bidashal's niece. "Wha-. How did you figure it out so easily, Luctiana?! You have gotten quite good at that, you know?" Luctiana gave a loud laugh. "Gosh, you are sooo easy to read. I can tell what you are playing at this time." The half-elf gave a grumble. "Speaking of which, the thing that you said earlier made it look like we are going to get teleported to somewhere else. Please, don't think of such things. You'll make everyone scared." Luctiana sighed and looked at Louise. "So, what are we going to do at the moment? I mean, it's only around 3:00 PM, and we have plenty of time to kill." Saito put his hands up on his cheeks. "Well, there's one possible thing. Why not check the capital. It isn't far from here, you know? We could get there in a short amount of time. With the Ninja H2 that is. Oh dear, I bet someone is using that same motorcycle and recklessly speeding for a thrill ride. Oh well, their loss after all. Bidashal, let's make the proper preparations to leave towards the capital of Tristain. Maybe we'll eat over there." Bidashal cracked his fists. "Understood, Saito. We'll shall go there at a moment's notice. I'll go check on Theo. Maybe he has returned back to normal." Sure enough, a few moments later, Theo came back in.

"Sorry about that guys. I just got emotional. I'm okay now." Bidashal looked concerned with Theo. "You sure about that? You had quite a big meltdown, Theo. Nothing wrong with that. It's fine to let them out. You have been with us for the past 100 years now, well, in this world." Theo nodded. "Yeah, 100 years. Can't believe it, but that much time as passed. Ah, didn't you have something to do? It seems like we are preparing to go out." Bidashal nodded. "We are indeed preparing to roll on out of here and make our way to the capital of Tristain for a visit. Staying here gets a little boring sometimes, even with playing Fortnite, League of Legends, or PUBG." Louise stood up. "We should move out then. Saito, you are coming along with me to the motorcycle! And you are driving, as usual!" She ran and grabbed Saito's hand. "H-Hey! Wait a moment, Louise! You're going a lit…" His voice cuts off as they both leave the living room. Theo sighed. "Ah, young love it seems. Reminds me of my younger days dating my wife. She was the love of my life. Well then, let's get going on our motorcycles and head towards the capital." All of the occupants left the living room, leaving it an empty shell. At this time, it was hot outside, causing all of them to produce sweat from the intense heat caused by the sun rays. Saito was already on his motorbike, with Louise on the back of the Ninja H2. Theo got on his own Ninja H2, with Tiffania on the back. Finally, Bidashal got on the last empty Ninja H2, with Luctiana riding as a passenger. "Now, Saito, where will we park at?" Saito tried to come up with a place to park. "Let's park at the middle of the capital, right by that shop where I got Derflinger when I first came to this world. Time to move out."

 _ **A visit to the capital of Tristain.**_

With that, everyone moved out and raced towards the capital a breakneck speed. All of them were driving at around 120 MPH. Luctiana enjoyed that. "This never gets old at all. Screw the carriages, they are slow as hell! With this, we can get to the capital in 30 minutes!" Theo had a smirk on his face. He also enjoyed the thrill of riding though the wind, and the clear skies. "I feel free, when I ride this motorcycle. I wonder how Lugnica is doing at the moment. Heh, they are probably still using those dragon carriages, which are pretty slow by comparison. This thing can go up to 200 MPH if it's absolutely needed. Also, with the elven fuel that was invented a year ago, based on gasoline, it can run for an infinite amount of time if the user allows it." The three sets of motorcycles eventually got close to the capital, and so, they all began to slow down. Traffic also increased as well, with a mixture of scooters and bikes driving the streets. Eventually, the trio reached the outskirts of the capital. There, there was mix of humans, elves, and half-elves mingling along the street, signaling unity that Henrietta wanted. They all parked their Ninja H2 on the side, taking a look at the houses and markets that were lying around. Even after these two years, little has changed on the outside, except for the installed street lights and motorcycles driving on the streets. Traffic lights were also installed where it was needed. The capital was bustling at the moment, with humans, elves, and half-elves playing on their phones, some of them playing different mobile games, or texting. Saito could see with his own eyes several shops that sold laptops, and others that sold phones or motorcycles. Television also became big as well, as there is a store right across from Saito have 4K TVs on display, from varying brands. _"I guess Theo must have imported them from Japan, and mass produced it at that factory to ship out to sellers."_ In the shop, one human was lifting a LG 4K TV up to his residence, another was an elf looking at the options, and to the right, there was an male and female half-elf couple talking about which brand and size to get.

Theo looked at Saito's direction. "Things are changing quite fast, Saito. That is what happens when you bring in new stuff from Japan. Also stuff that is useful to everyone. Video games surely have brought this nation together. And look, humans mingling with elves and half-elves. It's all thanks to that alliance with Tristain, and the nation of the elves." Saito chuckled. "Don't worry about it. You did some of the heavy lifting as well, so you get some of the credit." Theo's face formed a small smile. The group began to walk along the streets, passing by Siesta's bar, which was pretty much the same as always, except that 4K televisions have been installed for easy access, as well as the different channels for E-sports, anime, or real world news on Saito's Earth. Bidahsal looked inside, then looked at Luctiana. "Have you found any backstory regarding Subaru?" Luctiana shook her head. "I've looked at multiple sources, and nothing really conclusive yet. However, we can confirm for sure that he had very loving parents. As for why he was a NEET, that is a whole another matter. Can't find anything useful so far on the internet with that."

Bidashal pinched his face. "Damn! I knew it won't be that easy to find information on Natsuki Subaru. I shouldn't have pressed matters on that in the first place. Anyways, how has things been going with gaming over the past couple of weeks?" Tiffania, the half-elf, shrugged at the question suggest by Bidashal. She was extremely good now in gaming, with placing constantly in the top 5 in PUBG and Fortnite. Luctiana was also around her skill level at that. Both of them had a craze for battle royale games. "You know, battle royale games are awesome! Fighting to the death between 100 players, with the suspense of not knowing who will come out on top. I live for that kind of stuff. I wonder of that can be the same for Subaru. I wonder what he played back in Japan, before he got teleported to the other world? Any suggestions from you guys?" Both Theo and Bidashal shrugged. Theo cleared his throat. "What did you expect? I can't do that telepathic crap. All I can do is Yang magic and power bestowal. Anyways, judging by his eyes at the beginning, he must have had one of those older consoles." Luctiana shook her head as she walked with the group. "Older consoles? You're kidding me, right?" Saito butted in out of nowhere. "I can't say for sure, but probably consoles like the Sega Genesis and the Famicom." That caused a loud sigh from Luctiana. "My goodness. For crying out loud, why the hell does he not have the PS3, or the damn Wii U for crying out loud! He's from modern, 21st century Japan! You know what, I bet he has a crappy TV screen, and a crappy computer that he only uses for the internet. If he could get a better PC, perhaps he could play all of those games and more. What a useless pile of crap, didn't even get to become a good gamer as a NEET, instead using that time to binge and consume his light novels."

Bidashal gave a nasty glare at Luctiana, which quickly made her go quiet. "I don't think he would have enough money to afford a gaming computer. Even so, I bet that his father had those older consoles, so he could pass it on to his son. Nothing out of the ordinary to me." Theo nodded as they all approached a nearby laptop shop that was filled with customers. "That's something that any father would do, Luctiana. I know that I would have done the same with Emilia. Even so, the last time I saw her with my own eyes is when she was a baby. The anime doesn't count." Tiffania didn't say anything to make Theo upset. She knew that he still misses his daughter greatly, and that was a sensitive topic for her to get into. The half-elf was also wondering another question as well. "There was one thing in that anime that was off. I can't really explain it, but how in the world did Subaru even get summoned there in the first place? He was on Earth, blinks, and in the very next moment, it's like he is not even there at all." Saito thought about it for a moment. "Most likely, Subaru was summoned in similar way like me. However, the anime didn't give really much details into that. Louise, what do you think of it?" The pink haired girl also concurred with the statement as well. "I can't really add anymore to that. But, the strange thing is that there is no summoning circle whatsoever. He was on Earth, getting his food. Seems so sudden." Bidashal became a little concerned. "If we make several assumptions, it means that the Witch is so powerful that she can teleport someone to another dimension. And how in the world did she know about Earth, and about Subaru? That has got to be one of the most random things." Luctiana closed her eyes. "That would be the most likely case. Poor Subaru, a normal kid who got dragged against his will. I feel even worse for his parents, who are probably trying to find their son. If Emilia and Subaru came here, we'll definitely welcome them. It'll be a whole lot better than that shitty world." Theo nodded as well, while touching his silver hair. As he came across the mirror, he looked at it, reflecting his silver hair and purple eyes. "That world is the utter definition of shit. I would never pick that place over here. That damn Witch of Envy, always causing problems for everyone around her, including Subaru, an earthling."

As they continued to walk, they spotted a group of teenager half-elves gathered around a table. Each of them were holding phones on their hands. Different hair colors, from blonde, to silver, to red, they were seemed to play a mobile game of sorts. "Watch out! The circle is closing again! We are in the top 50 now, so stay on your toes." Another one called out. "Good, looks like the coast is….crap! I'm down! Take cover! Someone is shooting at us. It's coming from the northwest!" The silver haired one checked his map and spotted them. "Found them. Prepare to engage with the Mini 14! Let's bring it to them!" Tiffania chuckled at the sight of this. "Heh. PUBG Mobile looks like. The moment that I heard them talking about that Mini 14 gun, I knew right away. PUBG Mobile is one of the top ranking games out right now, and for good reason. You don't have to pay a single dime to play this game. That's right, absolutely free like League of Legends, Paladins, and Fortnite. Absolutely amazing." Theo nodded as well. "I'm also struggling with trying not to get addicted, but it keeps getting more and more difficult each time. I can't believe this, but I feel like I'm starting on the path of addiction. It's simply too fun!" Saito stared at Theo. _"Man, everyone getting addicted, including myself. However, despite that, it brought everyone together as gamers and people who want to relax for the day."_ He looked at Theo. "Saito, did you have something that you wanted to say? It seems like you wanted to talk about something. I mean, if you wanted to say something to me, you should really say that, you know?" Once again, Saito reassured Theo that everything was fine. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing. When there's something more concerning, then I'll tell you. For now, let's keep touring the capital. The sun is starting to heat this place up good, so let's hurry before it gets hot." Louise sighed. "It's already hot as it is, Saito. Can we get to an A/C place soon? Tristania is heating up quite fast." Saito had a small smile to put Louise at ease. "Louise, it won't be long. Hang on there! Just around an hour more."

 _ **The Cafe**_

Sure enough, Saito kept to his word, and got them into a café like place, with an elf as the main owner. Theo's face dropped in shock. _"That's….impossible….I thought he died in Elior forest, according to the other elves. No, maybe it is just me seeing this."_ Apparently, Theo recognized him from Elior Forest. He was an elf with long blonde hair which is tied into two tails and has dark green eyes, and pointy ears similar to Theo's. He also dressed in a formal attire with a suit and a purple tie. The elf spotted the crew and greeted them in first sight. "Welcome to Elior's Café, please have a se….Theo?!" In response, Theo was speechless. "A….Arch? How are you….still alive? How did you escape from that place?" Arch had a sad face, and turned towards one of the servers. "Please attend to the other customers. I knew these people here." He then turned towards Theo. "It's a long story, for sure, so please bear that in mind. Follow me." They all sat at a bigger table, with Saito questioning what was going on. "Theo? Is this someone you know? You two seem to know each other." Theo nodded. He looked at Arch. "What the heck happened at Elior Forest?" Arch shacked his head. "Bad things. Horrible things at Elior forest. I managed to escape from the Kurohebi and ran back to Elior Forest, but by the time I got there…it was too late. Everyone was frozen in the ice, all of the elves I knew, including Emilia." Theo was trying hard to hold back his anguish and sorrow, as it leaked from the fumes of his voice. "W…What?! H…how about my younger sister, Fortuna?" Arch simply sulked. Louise could tell that this was not going to be good.

"Fortuna, your younger sister, is dead, killed by _Geuse. He was gone by the time I came there." Suddenly, Theo had enough, and lashed out in sorrow. "De…De….DEAD?! Don't speak nonsense, boy! Geuse would never do something like that to my younger sister! N….No!" Arch shook his head. "It was that person, named Pandora." Theo was pretty pissed off, as expected from a father. "Pandora?! She was the one that attacked Elior Forest, the Witch of Vanglory? Even if I could rip her to shreds, there's no way we'll win against someone like that. I have seen her powers. She is dangerous. Damnit!" Bidashal and Luctiana looked towards each other, trying to understand what in the world was going on at the moment. Theo looked at Arch with intense ferocity. "Tell me, how did you get here in the first place?" Arch tried to recall what happened. "I was leaving the Elior Forest, when suddenly, a bright light engulfed me. It was the most bizarre thing that I have experienced in my life. I blacked out from that. When I finally woke up, it was in a_ desert, with elves that had bizarre ears, like a whole different type of elf. They told me I was in a village called Belti, in the elven country of Nephthys. I lived there for 100 years learning about what was going on around here, before making my way to Tristania 2 years ago. Did you get here in the same way, Theo?" Everyone in the big table turned to Theo. "That would be correct. I arrived at the capital city of the elves, Adyl, and made a living there for 100 years as a researcher for developing better stuff. I got here around the same time, I think." A half-elven waitress with blonde hair and ears like Tiffania approached Saito. "May I take an order now?" Everyone looked at the half-elf. All of the group placed their order on cold drinks, ranging from smoothies, to ice coffee and tea. Arch continued. "I tried to live here for 100 years, trying to move on from that. However, seeing you here, I can never forget what happened that day. No one can."

Theo clenched his fist. "I never forgot that day when the elves told me that Elior Forest was decimated by that Pandora scum. I will….will never forget that. I wish I could go and deal a can of ass whooping to her, but it's better to avoid her. Besides, we have to make use of what we have at the moment, in this world. I'm sure you are doing fine here as well, Arch-sama. Oh, and what have you thought about the new technologies that was brought to this world?" Arch then pulled out his One Plus 6T. "I'm one of those early adopters. I play those 'video games' on the thing, Theo. I don't regret it at all. In fact, I'm glad that I was able to have something like this. I can also keep in touch with you guys." Moments later, all of the drinks came. Everyone began to take their sips as the group talked about Arch, Theo, and the vast change occurring. Arch closed his eyes. "Emilia was such an innocent 7 year old half-elf. She had an affinity for spirits, and Fortuna wasn't fond of that." Theo raised an eyebrow as he drank iced coffee. "Fortuna didn't like that? But why? I guess I'll never know. I don't really care about that. She's my daughter." Arch sighed. "For the record, I have a Discord username, so when you guys leave later on, I can join your guy's server so that we can stay on contact." Theo had a small smile. "Well that's great news to hear! If anything goes wrong, we can be in touch." Louise looked at Theo. "Seems like you had quite a rough time, back in your world." Arch looked at Louise. "Oh, not really. Those were the best moments of my life, following Fortuna's orders. I looked up to her. Over here, in Tristain, the current queen, Henrietta, reminds me of Emilia." Saito was surprised. "The Queen reminded you of Emilia?!" Arch nodded as he looked at the 4K TV that was attached to the other side of the café. "Pure, innocent, kind-hearted. She is like the older version of Emilia. You know, I also wondered what she would look like to this day, right now. I miss her, dearly. 100 years have passed since then. She must have grown into a beautiful women by now. Like her human mother, who had a gentle face." Theo looked outside at the crowd, then looked back at Arch. "My wife. My human wife. She's most likely passed away by now. But I'll always have her in my heart, just like my daughter Emilia that she gave birth to all those years ago."

Louise looked around the café. "What are you going to do now, Arch?" The native Elior Forest resident shook his head. "What can I do? I can't even go back there to save all of the other villagers. They're probably gone now. I don't even know about Emilia-sama." Theo tapped his shoulders. "But she's alive, right? I mean, there was an anime that had Emilia in it." That caused Arch to perk up in interest. "Emilia was in an anime?! Theo, are you saying that she is still alive at this moment?!" Theo hanged his head, unsure of what to say next. Then, the words came out of his mouth, flowing like a waterfall. "No. We can't use an anime to make an assumption like that. However, Emilia in the anime had all of the features that was my Emilia as a baby." Arch simply closed his eyes. "Ah, I see then. Saito, Louise, I think we are going to wrap things up here soon. Looks like you guys are almost done with your drinks. Oh, and who are these other elves here?" Theo turned to the other elves. "They're my friends. Bidashal, Luctiana, and TIffania, who is a half-elf like Emilia." Arch looked at her, the blonde half-elf. He was distracted for a moment by her chest. Bidashal gave a glare at Arch. "Hello there? Down to earth with Arch? What the heck were you looking at? Don't tell me it was her bust!" Arch turned red in embarrassment. Luctiana tried to hold back her laughter, only to fail miserably. " …..*giggle*…..AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Even Theo giggled a bit at Arch's misfortune. "Don't be so embarrassed. As the older brother of Fortuna, I like to tease you sometimes, you know?" At this moment in time, everyone was done with their drinks, so the half-elven waitress took the empty cups away. Luctiana scratched your back. "It's good to know that there are several people from your place Theo. I'll glad you are able to enjoy all of the stuff that Saito introduced from Japan. Do you have a laptop of sorts?"

Arch nodded. "When I'm not in this café, tending to the customers, when I'm off on the weekends. I usually go outside, or play with my 'Dell G7' gaming laptop. I'm a big fan of League of Legends and PUBG, so you can hit me up there when we have time. If you happen to play those video games, I'll be more than glad to add you guys. Oh, and before I forget, give me a moment to join your guys group." Within the next minute, Arch joined the "Saito's Gang of Gamers." The amount of people in this group now totaled to seven. Bidashal also went and paid for the drinks, and they continued to talk. It was about 4:30 PM in the afternoon now. "I'll guess we will make our leave now, Arch." Arch nodded. "Very well then, Bidashal-sama. I look forward to meeting you all next time. Take care, especially you, Theo. The blood relative of Emilia and Fortuna-sama. May we meet again in another day and time. I'm looking forward to gaming and chatting with you all." By now, everyone has left the café, and are back out on the streets once again. Saito looked at where the sun was. The heat has died down a little bit. "Well, shall we go check out several markets? Louise and I will check out the produce. Theo, you will be leading the other elves. Go check anything you want." Saito and Louise went to check another market, while Theo turned towards the other elves. "Well then, looks like our free time! Let's check some games!"

 _ **An Unknown Portal In the Middle of the Street**_

Luctiana looked around the market around them, which was more diverse than before. People buying smartphones, looking for the best one for their price range. At one store, a half-elf just bought a Pocophone F1 from Xiaomi. "More electronics, eh? You really love that stuff, Theo. Not that I can blame you for that." Theo chuckled. "What I can say? We are spoiled by that stuff. Technology is one heck of a drug, I'll tell you. Every single app, all in one phone." Tiffania looked around her, when she spotted something bizarre and out of place right in front of the group. It was a blackish like portal. Her face was filled with confusion, which Bidashal spotted. "What in the worlds is a portal doing there? Can anyone other than us see this? Uh, Luctiana, Theo, if you are done with your technology talking, we have a little problem over here!" They both looked over to where Bidashal was pointing. Theo was just as taken back by the sight. "What in the world is THAT thing? That portal should not be there! Can anyone else other than us see it?" Emilia's father looked around the area to see if any other living beings can see the portal, but to his surprise, no one else seemed to notice the odd portal. "I guess we can only see it, looks like. Maybe it's a way to tell us that we should enter it?" Luctiana objected to the matter right away. "Enter it? Are you out of your mind, Theo?! We don't even know where it will take us! Going in that now will be risky!" Tiffania tilted her head. "I'm afraid we'll have to go through that. We don't have any other choice." Theo gave a sigh. "Even though I hate to say it, I will have to agree with Tiffania. It might reappear somewhere else, so I think it's telling us to go into this thing. Everyone, check your belongings. Make sure that you have the Materializer and your phones. Of course, our laptops are in there. Please do it." The group checked their belongings. Luctiana crossed her arms. "We're all good to go, Theo. Prepare for an exhibition." Emilia's father nodded as he entered the black portal. Bidashal, Luctiana, and Tiffania followed soon after. The portal closed behind the group, with them disappearing from Tristain.

"Great, just great! We are in the realm of nothingness. An empty void. Remind me, what the heck…" All of a sudden, everyone is sleepy. Theo tried to keep his eye open, but he collapsed to the ground. "A..aa…sle…py. Gu….wha…" He collapsed to the ground. Tiffania fell soon after. "Wha..is happening to me?" Bidashal collapsed right to the ground. "W…we shou…have don…that…." Finally, Luctiana crumpled to the ground full of nothing. "This..wa….s….a bad idea to…begin with." In a matter of minutes, all of them have fallen unconscious. By then, everything around them has faded to black. Just an hour later. Saito and Louise got done from shopping, when they tried to text Theo, only to be met with no response. Louise tried messaging everyone that spited off from their group, with no success. "Damn! Don't joke with us, Theo! Come on, Louise. We have to find them!" Louise nodded to Saito's voice. They continued searching for one hour, and that was when they became worried. It was around 6:00 PM by now. "This is bad! I don't know what we are going to do now, Louise. The elves in our group seems like, they disappeared off the face of Tristain!" Louise shook her head in denial. "That's impossible! You can't simply vanish for no reason! Let's get back to Arch's café. It has closed at 6:00 PM. Maybe he can tell us something." Saito, without a moment's notice, walked back to the café, to where Arch was cleaning up. He was by himself. He turned towards the loud stomping noises, and let out a small smile. "Saito, Louise, you're back here. What's going on? Where are the others?" Saito shook his head. "They…they're missing! We can't find the other elves!"

The former guardian of Elior Forest was confused. "You mean, they just vanished?! They can't be far from here. Let me try to find them on Discord." Arch pulled out his OnePlus 6T to try to reach the elves, only to have no response. "Fuck! What the hell is going here!? This is bad. They may have gone through a portal, most likely. As for where it takes them, I don't even know. I hope they are all right!" Arch slammed his foot into the floor. "Damnit! What could have happen to Theo and the others?" He began pacing from left to right, with his face on edge. He could not believe that just a few hours ago, he was chatting with Theo, one of the only two people from the Re: Zero world to get into the Zero No Tsukaima world. Now, it seems as if Fate has ripped him away from Arch once again, just like Emilia.

 _And just like that, the elves from Saito's group were no longer in Tristain._

 _ **Entering a new world**_

The group opened up their eyes, as it seemed to be around 9:00 AM in the morning. Theo rubbed his eyes as he was still a little dazed. He looked around to see where he is at. The others did the same too. Luctiana stood up and look around. "What the heck happened? We all blacked out after entering that time rift. Where are we even? Looks like in a deserted alleyway or something." Bidashal looked out to see what races were there. It was a diverse one, with lizards, cat-like creatures, reptilian, and orcs. "I spot demihumans, around this place. We should probably check out and get our bearings. We should first test and see if our technological devices still work around here." With that in mind, Theo got out his Samsung Note 9 and looked at the service. To his relief, they still had service to Saito's Earth and Tristain. He tried loading in a webpage, which loaded as fast as ever. Theo turned to the others. "Fortunately, our phones still work around here. Therefore, you can use them like normal." Luctiana squinted her eyes. "Wait a damn minute. None of them have smartphones?! Guys, I don't think we are in Tristain anymore. This is worrying." Tiffania got out her elven storage and pulled out the Materializer to test it. She materialized fried rice and started to eat the rice. The half-elf was hungry. Bidashal glared at Tiffania. "Looks like the Materializer still works, as Tiffania decided to eat fried rice right now." She said nothing and continued to eat at her leisure. Bidashal stood up and turned towards the other three.

"Now that we know certain things about the functionally of our possessions, we need to notify Saito and Louise about the situation we are in at the moment. They are most likely looking for us right now." Theo walked forward and looked at the buildings around him. "These buildings are pretty similar to Tristain. The level of technology here seems absent. Speaking of tech, everyone, get on the Discord immediately. We are going to chat with the others about this." With that, everyone got on their phones, with the demi humans and humans on the street not noticing the future technology that the elves were employing at the time. The Discord conversation went like this in a nutshell:

 _Discord Feed_

 _Arch: Where are you guys? Louise and Saito can't find you. I'm worried about you guys. If you can respond back, do so immediately._

 _Louise: Theo, we are all worried right now._

 _Bidashal: We walked into, this weird portal of sorts, and now, it seems like we are in completely different place. Seems like another town though, but it's not Tristain, for sure._

 _Theo: They are demi humans from our first observations. We don't know the full details as of yet._

 _Arch: I'm glad that all of you are all right. Wait a minute, did you say demi humans? That can mean only one thing! You guys just got teleported somewhere unknown._

 _Luctiana: Uh, no shit Mr. Obvious?! I don't even have a damn clue on where we are right now. All that we know from the first ten minutes of waking up is that all of our technology works without a hitch._

 _Arch: Sorry to be such a dunderhead. Anyways, I think you guys should explore a little bit. Louise and Saito and fine, so just get more information in that unknown place, okay? I'm counting on you._

 _Saito: Please be safe over there. Like Arch said, feel free to come back on this chat when you're done._

The Discord chat concluded there, and everyone placed their smartphones back in their pockets. Theo turned towards everyone. "We are exiting out of this alley. Just to let you guys know, we are in unknown territory, so please don't act freely like we did back in Tristain, understand?" Everyone in the group nodded and followed Theo. Before he reached the opening, he stopped in his tracks. Tiffania, the half-elf, was confused. "Um, Theo-san, why are we stopping here?" Theo looked at Tiffania. "Remember that I can do Yang magic? That includes disguises. I'm going to put one on right now. It will conceal my appearance, while retaining the same voice." With that in mind, Theo clapped his hands together, which caused him to have a cloak on top of his clothes, along with a new mask. Luctiana raised a brow. "Didn't know he can do that. That's amazing. Why don't you use it that often back in Tristain?" Theo closed his eyes. "That's because…it won't be very honorable to hide behind a disguise, right? I only use in when it is absolutely required. This time is one of those times. We are going out now." Everyone followed up to a street opening, the same one that Subaru ordered the appas, and where the board for the Royal Selection was located. There was markets on the side, with characters that Theo recognized immediately. _"That's impossible! Th…Those are Lugnican characters! No. How is this possible?!"_ A look of distress formed in Theo's face. Luctiana was the first one to notice him. "Theo? What's wrong? It looks like you have seen a gh…." That was when Luctiana looked at the characters. They are Lugnican characters from the Re:Zero anime. "N…..no way. Are we…..in…Lugnica? D…during the Royal Election?" Bidashal pointed to the board will all of the candidates. Almost immediately, Theo rushed to the board. He put his hand on the poster with Emilia's face on it. His eyes tremble, his hands shaking from shock.

"E…Emilia…I….I'm so sorry that I left you. You were only a baby back then. And now, you have grown up to be a beautiful, young female half-elf, who helps out others because she wants to. I'm so proud of you. Your mother would be too." Bidashal stood beside Theo. "We now know one very important thing, Theo. Several things, actually. The first obvious thing is that the Re:Zero anime, it is real. Secondly, the Royal Election is actually a real thing. Finally, and most important of all, now we know your daughter is alive." Theo didn't look at Bidashal, but after a while, he turned towards him. His face was stern, and commanding. "We, are going to find my daughter. Whatever it takes. I want to see her face, once again, after over 100 years." He began to read the details of the royal election. Luctiana replied with a cheerful tone in her voice. "Whatever it takes! I like that spirit, Theo! We'll find him." Apparently, the other demi humans didn't pay much attention to him. However, Luctiana grabbed her phone and took a picture of the board. She turned the flash off to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to them. She whispered to Theo. "I need to send a Discord message to Arch and Louise and Saito. This is an important matter right now." Theo allowed her to do that. Therefore, Luctiana got on the Discord chat channel. The following Discord feed occurs when Luctiana popped into the chat:

 _Discord Feed_

 _Luctiana: Arch, there is something that you need to see. It's a board from where we are at._

 _Arch: Post a picture of it, as I don't really know what you are talking about right now._

 _Luctiana: Very well then. Here is a photo of a board we found just a few moments ago._

 _(Picture showing the 5 Royal Candidates)_

 _Arch: Wha…WHAT?! That is Lugnican! How did you find that?_

 _Luctiana: I think, we were teleported to the capital city of Lugnica. And they are having a Royal Election._

 _Arch: A royal election?! What the hell happened to the king's relatives?_

That is when Theo joined in the chat.

 _Theo: They're dead, Arch. Seems like a disease really wiped them out, according to the anime. There's a group of sages that is currently occupying the empty power space right now. There's good news._

 _Arch: T…that's…that's Emilia on the board. There's no doubt! The pin, and the white flower. Thank goodness she's alive. I was worried about what happened to her after I saved her from the mabests, those black serpent things. Do you know where she is right now?_

 _Theo: Roswaal's mansion, most likely. He's her benefactor, but I don't like him._

 _Arch: Benefactor for the election? Theo, are you saying that you don't trust him?_

 _Theo: It's not that. I think, that something about Roswaal does not seem right to be at all. Maybe it's just a father's intuition, but I'm suspicious of his true motives._

 _Arch: I see. So, what are you guys planning to do at the moment?_

 _Luctiana: We are planning to search for a boy in Lugnica. His name is Natsuki Subaru._

 _Arch: Natsuki…..Subaru? I have not heard a name like that before._

 _Theo: Arch, Subaru is not from Lugnica. He is from Earth. Planet Earth. A teenager, 17 years old. He's in love with my daughter. I am grateful for him for saving her life. Now, I will support him. Give him some guidance in this harsh world.  
_

 _Arch: E…Earth? You mean….Saito's home place. Japan? Looks like it's an urgent matter for you. Ah, so Emilia has someone that likes her. Right. So, you're supporting him. Maybe marriage._

 _Theo: Of course, I know he wants to marry her. And I am going to support it. I have to get going now. We're going to try to find him._

 _Arch: Find Subaru? I would help if I could, but I'm in Tristain with Louise and Saito. We'll get to the bottom of this.  
_

 _Louise: We wish you the very best in Lugnica. Saito and I are always here._

 _Luctiana: See you guys. Signing off._

 _ **Finding Subaru**_

With that, the Discord conversation comes to an end. Bidashal rubbed his chin. "Now we are in Lugnica, we need to come up with a plan regarding how to find Subaru in this haystack of a capital." Theo nodded. "True, Bidashal. That is a problem for sure. Let's go back to that alleyway and set up a temporary base of operations. We can't go into any restaurants or shop and these markets. Not like we need them anyway. The Materalizer that we have will take care of everything that we need." Luctiana tossed her legs. She had a plan in mind for Subaru, regarding what he brought over to this world. "I want to introduce Subaru to more modern technology. Why in the hell is he still using that damn flip phone? That crap needs to go now. Everyone uses smartphones now. Plus, his phone is a brick over here with no cell service." Bidashal face palmed. "This again, Luctiana? Ever since you got new technology two years ago, you want to bring that technology to other people." This did not deterred Bidashal's niece. "What? Come on, Subaru is from Japan. He's used to this stuff by now. It won't take him long to get used to a smartphone. Plus, he can do more on that thing. Unlike his pile of crap flip phone, he'll have cell service. And there are plenty of apps for him on the store. So a gamer like him would love that. Also, the camera will be higher quality than the one on his phone, since that phone is from 2001. Our phones come from the year 2018. There is no reason to keep a phone from 2001." Theo had a smile. "So that's your idea, Luctiana. To modernize this place? I knew that was the first thing that you had in mind." He turned towards the opening in front of them, watching the demi humans and humans walk by on the capital streets. "I am thinking of the same thing as well. For saving Emilia's life at the loot house, and for his fighting spirit, I am going to give Subaru the same laptop that we are using right now." Bidashal looked at Theo with skeptics. He was not so sure about the idea in the first place.

"Are you sure about that, Theo? Subaru might regress to being a NEET again." Bidashal also pointed out another potential problem in Theo's idea. "If we are going to modernize by introducing smartphones and laptops, the first problem is the literacy rate. We'll have to turn everything to Lugnican. Secondly, there is another part, cultural shock. These humans and demi humans in his world probably don't even know what a motorcycle is, or what it does. I'm not even sure what they are going to think about owning something like a computer or a laptop. Explaining it to them, and teach them how to use it will not be an easy process to begin with." Theo tilted his head. "You have a point there, Bidashal. However, didn't we learn how to use them eventually? Then, it became all natural to us. We can teach them how to use it." Bidashal nodded. "Well then, if we go that route, then it is most likely going to take some time for them to get accustomed to that." Theo's thoughts were pandering with technology. _"I don't know what these people will think of these things. This is a medieval society, unlike the transitional one in Tristain. I bet they still use a quill and a pen. Can't imagine what they would think about a computer where you can type stuff up and search for information in a split second. Information is power after all."_ Tiffania listened to the conversation, only to pull out PUBG Mobile yet again. She decided to play a match on Sanhok with squads. The match began as Theo, Bidashal, and Luctiana continued to discuss on the alleyway on what to do next. Just then, Luctiana realized something about Theo's powers.

"Theo, you have power bestowing powers, right? Are….are you going to give it to Subaru?" That question from Luctiana made Theo think for a moment. Finally, he came out with an answer. "I'm not going to force him to get new powers, but if I had to, I would. Watching the anime made me few sorry about him. He's absolutely powerless, and his gate is absolutely garbage. Coming from Earth, it is a given. I am sick of seeing him helpless, struggling in this crapsack world. It's about time he receives a powerlift. This place has screwed him, over and over again. All I wanted, is for Subaru to have a more peaceful life here with my daughter. He's from Japan, so having modern technology that Subaru uses in his everyday life would be more useful over here in Lugnica." Bidashal shook his head. "It checks out for the most part, Theo, but I'm concerned about giving powers to Subaru. Your ability is one of the most amazing out there. However, the random side effect that it gives to the bestowed could be a problem. What if Subaru is given too much power?" Theo hung his head down. "So what? It's better to be too powerful, then to be powerless. Look at that poor kid. He wanted to run away. Don't you realize that it feels horrible when you are powerless to stop it? I can't blame that kiddo for running away."

Luctiana kicked her foot on the ground, sending a pebble flying into the air. "So, how much longer are we going to stay in this deserted alleyway? I'm starting to get bored already, and speaking of which, look at Tiffania! She's already tuned out and is playing a game on her phone. Probably more PUBG Mobile! Theo, when we are going t-" Theo put his hand on Luctiana's mouth. "We can't afford to make a scene here, Luctiana! This is not Tristain anymore. Wandering around the capital is foolish, and we are going to get lost by doing that. Not only that, if people see my disguise, they'll be able to see that I am the daughter of Emilia. You saw how much prejudice she received, right? I don't want to draw unnecessary attention to us!" Bidashal continued on Theo's statement. "In addition, the citizens here will be able to connect the features that you share with Emilia. Your eye color, skin tone, and hair color are the exact same. We can't risk having that happen, Luctiana. Staying in the alleyway until we can locate Subaru is the safer bet. If it comes down to it as a last resort, all we have to do is keep a low profile and blend in." Meanwhile, Tiffania's hand is burning with tension. Her hands are trembling. Once again, she has reached the final 10 of PUBG Mobile again. She motivated herself with encouraging thoughts. _"Come on, Tiffania! You got this in the bag! Don't choke at the very end of this game! Plenty of ammo for my Kar98K, and my M416. Also some level three armor as well."_ By this point, Tiffania had around 12 kills, taking out anyone she sees in a quick fashion. Several people have taken aim at her and tried to take her off. At one instance, she came really close to dying, but she somehow got the jump on the guy with a Mini 14. Luckily, Tiffania had some med kits on her, so she was able to get her health back.

This was it, Tiffania was one of the only three left. The circle was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. Finally, she spotted those two guys. She managed to take both of them out with Kar98K headshots. She fist pumped after she won the game. Luctiana noticed and clapped. "Well done, Tiffania. I can tell that you won yet another match in PUBG." Tiffania brushed her blonde hair aide. "I told you, Luctiana. PUBG is one of my favorites. I want to introduce Emilia-san to this." Bidashal gave a loud sigh. "If we are going to go find Subaru, we can't do it on an empty stomach. Our best course of action is to eat something before we go. Our Materializer can take care of that easily. We're broke, so we can't buy anything off the markets." Theo pulled out his Note 9 and went to the maps app. "Our phones have the ability to survey the area, so let me get an idea on what part of the capital we're at." Theo pressed the "Scan" button, and a male robotic voice responded with the following: _"Surveying area. Estimated time to completion, 30 seconds."_ Theo waited for it to complete. Finally, the city layout was completed, with the phone showing Theo a ping on the map for where they are at. "Bingo. That didn't take long. Let's get go…" That was when Theo's stomach rumbled. "Damnit! I think I have to eat as well." Bidashal got out his Materializer. "Well then, let's get eating, I must say." With that, Luctiana ate ramen, Theo eating a chicken plate, Bidashal eating Miso soup and a rice course, and Tiffania eating a chicken salad.

They all munched on their food, and within the next thirty minutes, the food is all gone. Theo nodded and started to head back out, putting his disguise on once again. Theo marked the spot of Kadomon Risch's marketplace. They proceed to check out the markets that was around them. Luctiana scoffed. "So these guys don't even know what modern society looks like. They are missing out on the good stuff, you know? Video games, laptops, and phones. Those are the bomb." Bidashal looked around the various markets occupying the streets. "It takes me back to the older times, before we even had those type of things. Speaking of which, we are approaching the streets" The crew was exposed to a sight of the bustling dragon carriages that hustled up and down, past the guard posts. Tiffania looked in awe at the sight, as she has never seen anything like that before. "Those are dragon carriages? Jeez, they are really bulky and clunky. I don't think they can even turn that fast. If I were to guess, you operate them in a similar matter to horse carriages that were normally used in Tristain?" Bidashal nodded. "Yeah, for sure. I remember Saito having a little race between the carriage and the motorcycle. I remembered over a year ago, everyone was shocked at how the fastest carriage in Tristain got absolutely demolished by that Ninja H2 motorcycle. It was over in an instant." Luctiana puts her hands on her back. "Those were the good old times. Well, everything is kind of better of now, except for the fact that we can't read anything over here. Theo over here is going to save us. I guess we'll just keep exploring around until we encounter anything unusual." Theo nodded. "That's the best we can do for the moment." Over the next hour, the group explored the street of the capital of Lugnica. Several people gave a glare at the group, probably due to the elven ears that Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal had. "I remember, elves in Lugnica aren't really well received due to Satella. Maybe this isn't really the best….idea to do this…."

Just then, something caught Tiffania's eye as the group decided to return to Kadomon Risch's shop. With her eye, the half-elf spotted a certain Japanese kid with a track suit, staring at a certain blue hair maid. His face was pure of despair. The next moment, all of the apples that the blue maid had dropped to the ground, with the boy dragging the girl. Tiffania tapped Theo's shoulder. "Theo! I have spotted Subaru-san and Rem-san! We're going after them immediately!" Theo looked at where Subaru and Rem headed, and began to follow them at a fast pace. The group followed Theo's footsteps. They were on the other side of the street, following both Subaru and Rem. Finally, they saw Subaru come to a stop, and went up the stairs with Rem. Luctiana looked at Bidashal. "Jeez, looks like Subaru is going to have his mental breakdown up there. And great, just great. We have to somehow how cross this street without getting ran over by those dragon carriages. Something tells me it is a lot harder than it looks." Theo looked at the oncoming carriages coming in and out of the capital. He turned towards the group. "When I give you the signal to cross, you do so at my command." Everyone in the group nodded. After a few moments, Theo spotted an opening where no carriages were coming by at the moment. This would be the perfect opportunity for them to cross. "Crossing now! Everyone, follow me!" Theo ran, and so did the entire group. Several onlookers noticed the group crossing the street. One of them mumbled to the other. "What in the world are those demi humans thinking?! That is really dangerous to do that thing!"

Theo breathed a sigh of relief after the group crossed the bridge. Just to the left of them, there is a set of stairs that led up to an observatory place. "Looks like we finally reached that place." Bidashal nodded. "Should I contact Arch about this? I think he would like to know." Luctiana and Tiffania agreed together as well. Theo put his hand behind him. "You can do so, but please do it quietly. I don't want people to draw attention to our phones. I suggest turning it to vibration mode before engaging Discord." Bidashal said nothing and set his Note 9 to 'vibration mode'. He got on the Discord server to notify Arch about the turn of events that had just occurred in a matter of five minutes. Theo was careful not to show his Note 9 to anyone. Any attention would be bad at this time. With his fingers, Theo brought out the Discord Group chat once again.

 _Discord Feed_

 _Theo: Arch, we have located Subaru._

 _Arch: Subaru? That kid you were talking about? Err, it seems like you really need help from me. What is it that you would like some help with in the first place?_

 _Theo: Um, how do I explain this? Well, I haven't dealt with people who don't love themselves that much. Mainly, Subaru. He really, really hates himself. I mean, I haven't dealt with people from Earth who hated themselves. Assuming that he comes from Japan, I assumed that he lived a relatively simple life there._

 _Arch: He hates himself? Theo, what you are dealing with is someone that feels worthless. My advice to you, is to remind him of the good things that he has done, and remind him of people he's fighting for. Especially Emilia-sama._

 _Theo: Are you sure that is going to do it in the first place? For someone like Subaru, I really don't know how bad his self-esteem is. However, having that mindset is self-destructive. He won't get anywhere if he continues to hate himself. I must put a halt to that._

 _Arch: Speaking of which, why in the world would Subaru hate himself as a person. From the past year of learning about Japan, and about Earth, it just seems odd on why Subaru would just hate himself that much? That place seems pretty peaceful to live in, such as Tokyo. They have all the high end stuff there.  
_

 _Theo: How would I know? Do I look like his father to you?! I'm Emilia's father, not his! Although if I think about it, I think his mindset of hating himself came long before it he got to Lugnica. No, it started way before that. I think it's a family issue that Subaru had, although I can't really assume for sure. We really do not know much about his past, so any assumptions are just assumptions._

 _Arch: So hating himself must have been a family issue? Seems to be the most likely case. If you are going to help Subaru, then please, don't do something stupid and reckless. I hope you can lead that person the right way. From what I have heard, he seems like a good kid who got into a terrible situation._

 _Theo: Yes, he did. Now, I'm going to go help him. I can't stand seeing him act like this anymore._

With that, Theo cuts off the Discord Chat and turns towards the group. "Arch has been notified of the situation." Tiffania nodded. She looked at the stairs. "I hope we'll get the chance to help out Emilia-san. I'm glad that there is a fellow half-elf around here too. After all, I lived in that old cabin for four years following my mother's death. We are going to help Subaru-san get back to his beloved Emilia, I'm sure." Bidashal sighed. He had to deal with some of the demi humans that were starting at Tiffania's chest area as the group walked around the market. "Damn perverts looking at her chest. I had to give them a nasty glare to deter them from looking. Trust me, if anyone tries to use magic against us, they will have no idea of the wrath that I will incur upon them all. Most likely, the magic in this place is way weaker." After that, they said nothing as they eavesdropped on the conversation between Rem and Subaru. It was one thing to hear a person's anguish in anime. It's another to hear it firsthand. Bidashal looked at Theo. "Looks like we know where we are at now. We can't really say it out loud because of Satella." Theo nodded and kept on listening. This time, the group heard the following. _"What. What do you know about me?"_ , followed by a fist that sound like it impacted the wall. Everyone in the group winced at the sound of that. "Oooh. That's going to hurt for a while. This is still painful to hear, can't really say I blame him for feeling that way. Theo, is Subaru the only one to be confirmed from Earth?" Theo began to walk up the stairs, but Bidashal stopped him. "Theo, what are you doing? If you go up there right now, you could take them by surprise. I think you should put your disguise back on so that Subaru can't tell."

Theo realized that he forgot to disguise himself. "Damn! How could I forget something like that? Argh. I was being careless yet again." Theo clasped his hands together. He reverted back to his disguise again. "Whew, now we're back to normal. Hope that Subaru and Rem didn't catch that." Luctiana kept a close eye on what is being heard at the top. "Oh great, talking about what he did in the real world now. I mean, on Earth. Ugh. Can't really make much sense of that. A kid around his age would probably be in his last years of high school, preparing to go into the work force, or go to college." Tiffania was nervous as she looked around at the crowd and the dragon carriages. She is trying to understand Subaru's past. _"Could it be? Maybe something on the internet could tell me about his past? Maybe the second time will be a success."_ Tiffania got out her Note 9 yet again, this time for looking up Subaru's past. Once again, it seems like she had no success with it. _"Damn, and here I thought that I would get any further. Then again, I think I know where Subaru comes from. Mini Shop….that's one of the convenience stores brands in Japan. This one was in Chiba, which is around a two hour drive from Tokyo. Subaru-san, what were you doing on the other side, before you got to Lugnica? And the phone he has. What was the latest phone again? In Subaru's expected summoning date? Ah! Wha-, this is too complicated for me!"_ Luctiana continued to listen to Subaru's self-depreciation. It was evident, that Luctiana had finally reached her breaking point. What followed was a massive rant that she began to shout quietly and she walked back and forward in anger. "The lowest of the low?! Are you SHITTING ME?! Saying that, puts the implications that you are just as low as murderers, rapists, and child molesters. Natsuki Subaru. YOU ARE NOT THE LOWEST OF THE LOW! You saved Emilia! SAVED HER DAMN LIFE AT THE FUCKING LOOTHOUSE! SHE WON'T EVEN BE ALIVE IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU! HOW CAN YOU EVEN THINK OF YOURSELF LIKE THAT?! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR DAMN SCREWUP AT THE CAPITAL AND FIGHTING WITH JULIUS! HUMANS MAKE MISTAKES ALL OF THE TIME! IS YOUR SELF ESTEEM SO AWFUL THAT YOU CAN THINK ABOUT YOURSELF AS WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH!? UN….UN…UNBELIEVABLE!" Luctiana took a rock she found nearby and smashed it at a nearby wall. The group merely look at her in silence.

"That's it! I can't stand watch Subaru like this anymore. I'm going to give him a pep talk about thi…" Luctiana began to walk up the stairs, only for Bidashal to grab Luctiana. "Don't interfere with the Rem confession! Theo is going to handle this! If you go now, that mood of yours is only going make us more enemies! You have always been the type to get riled up about things you want. Lashing out at his weakness would not be the best of ideas. I think you should just rest and calm yourself down." Luctiana simply huffed and made her way back to the group. She sat back down and grumbled that she projected herself to Subaru, yet again. Tiffania was a little confused at Luctiana's expression. "Um….Bidashal-san, will Luctiana be all right? It seems like she is very upset about something." Bidashal replied as he stared at the capital streets with the carriages. "Luctiana is having her cool down time right now, Tiffania-san. I think it's best if you don't bother with her right now." Theo closed his eyes as he listened to Rem's confession. "It's almost time now. I'm going to buff up Subaru if he wants to. So I hope it turns out the way that I wanted it to in the first place." Theo looked at his hands. _"My name is Theo, the master of Yang, duplicating things, and giving powers to other people. I have to make this count, for Subaru's sake. If I don't, then Subaru will remain powerless. This is not the anime anymore. By doing this, we are deviating from that. Not that it matters anymore. This isn't an anime. This is the real world to us!"_

Theo began to walk up the stairs, still fully disguised. The group looked at him and nodded. Tiffania waved. "Good luck, Theo-san! It'll be the first time meeting Subaru-san and Rem-san. I'm sure you can make that count!" With each step, Theo gets closer and closer to the top. That means, closer and closer to changing history forever. Everything, from this point on, will shake up the Re:Zero world. As of now, the people are unware of the power these four elves yield at this moment.

 _Thus, this begins the alternate route of Re:Zero, for Subaru, for the mansion, for Emilia, and for Rem and Ram._ _ _And of course, for Arlam._ Medieval technology has never looked this outdated. The modern stuff such as smartphones, laptops, and computers from Subaru's real world, Planet Earth. To finsh, there are also motorcycles, which can reach over 200 MPH, and make any dragon carriage in Lugnica look as slow as snails. It's not even close. This new route is thus named: Re:Zero – Modernizing Another World._


	4. Meeting the Re:Zero Crew

_**In Subaru's 4**_ _ **th**_ _ **loop in Arc 3 (Episode 18)**_

Subaru, looking at himself and feeling nothing but absolute hatred, began to go a prolonged rant. "Before I got into the situation that led me to all of you, do you have any idea what I did? I did nothing. I've never done a single thing. I had all that time, all that freedom... I could have done anything, but I never did a thing! And this is the result! What I am now is the result! All of my powerlessness, all of my incompetence, is the product of my rotten character. That's right. I have no character. Even when I thought I could live here, nothing changed. At heart, I'm just a small, cowardly, filthy piece of trash, who's always worried about how others see me. And nothing... Nothing about me has changed! ...I absolutely hate myself..." The pain and anguish on his face was evident to Rem, who saw Subaru at his lowest point. Where he felt he was powerless. Where he felt that he could not do anything. Where he was a NEET basking in self-hatred, because of an inferiority complex that he developed while back on Earth. Who said that doing video games all day was a bad idea? Subaru learned the hard way. Enduring death after death, after death.

(Soon, Rem encourages Subaru to start from Zero.)

Subaru wanted to not lead Rem by faking his love for her, said the absolute truth. "I love Emilia." Just then, an unknown figure walked over to Subaru. He came from the same steps that Subaru came from "So, you love Emilia. I can see that." The masked person walked to Subaru, and offered Subaru a proposal. "If that is the case, I can repair your gate. In addition, your Yin magic will be enhanced to its full potential. In addition, you will gain the ability to use Water type magic as well. You don't have to pay anything. My service is free." This statement shocked Subaru, as he had no idea who this person was or what his intentions was on the first place. But for some reason, Subaru felt as if this person is trustworthy, as if this person was going to be the one that was going to bring him back from despair along with Rem. Perhaps he pitied Subaru and wanted to give him a helping hand.

Subaru was simply dumbfounded. He has watch anime where people gain powers, but at a price. This he thought, would be no different. "But, is there a catch? I mean, I am just a piece of trash human with no powers of any kind. Always worrying about what others think of me. I didn't come from this place. I don't deserve to be like this at all. Having powers? How could that ever help me, especially when all I have done in my life is nothing. Nothing that is worthy to even note of in the first place. And playing video games and watching anime doesn't count as doing something! My laziness from my pampered life, and now this is the result of all of that! Me getting treatment by Crusch is the result of all of my rotten character! Everyone that I cared about has suffered because of my incompetence! Including Emilia-tan! She doesn't deserve this at all! Getting treated like garbage all the time. They haven't even given her a chance in proving herself. On top of that, she has zero friends in Lugnica. She only has Puck and me for company."

The unknown figure looked and Subaru and nodded his head. "Subaru, hating yourself for what you are is not going to change things for the better. That was not your fault, kid. People around your age won't do any better, even if they went to school." That took Subaru back in shock. "Wait a minute, how did you know about what a school is. It can't me. Do you know that place?" The mystery man gave Subaru a slow nod. "Yes. I know of that place. That place you did nothing productive. Earth, right?" Subaru was still stunned speachless. How could a someone like him know his origins? Theo continued. "As for your question, it is a yes, unfortunately. There will be a catch. Also, you don't need to be so hard on yourself. That is going to be harmful in the long run anyways. If you choose to accept, you will have to find out what that catch is. If you really love her. Then you have to protect her. You must protect her at all costs Subaru-kun. Also, if you accept, there will be no going back. If you go back to a loop, this change will be permanent. If you respawn, you will not be able to revert back to what power up I will give to you. Think wisely before you make your decision, Subaru-kun. Your very decision can affect the rest of your life. If you don't want to be powerless ever again. Choose wisely...Subaru-kun."

Subaru thought about his decision for a moment. On one hand, having new powers would be benefit to him, as he might not be powerless against the Witch Cult that he plans to face once again. On the other hand, Subaru doesn't know what kind of drawbacks he will get in the long run. It may be something that might be a huge disadvantage to him. Finally, after several minutes, Subaru finally made a decision. "I guess I'll need all the help that I can get. Yes, I accept. Please do your thing. I accept the risks involved."

 _ **Gaining new powers**_

The figure replied to Subaru. "As you wish. I'll be activating the sequential power-up now. No going back now." He raised his two hands, and ray of light was beamed directly towards Subaru. With that, a bright white light engulfed Subaru. All of sudden, he could few a huge surge of magical power entering him. "May the word 'powerless' be of the past. May the word 'weak' be of the past. Rise once again, Otaku Knight." His mana gate was restored, maybe a little bit too well. In fact, his mana gate was going into overdrive. This lasted for several minutes, which forced Rem to cover her eyes from the extremely bright light. It was so bright that the entire capital noticed. Kadomon Risch, the appa salesman who was Subaru's current checkpoint, was blinded by the light. He had to cover his eyes. "WHAT THE?! What was that light!? No...it's where that boy went up to with Rem. Did something happened to him? Don't tell me." The crowd was blinded by the light as well. This caused unrest for several minutes. Murmurs began circling around, trying to discuss about what caused this sudden source of light. Confusion quickly spread, but eventually, people went about their business.

Meanwhile in Crusch's mansion, Ferris was hanging out with Crusch, who was about her usual business. The bright light was also seen from the mansion as well, which caught Ferris off guard. He covered his eyes, as he was outside. "What in the nyan was that?! Someone may have nyow-forgot to control their Yang magic property!" Crusch interrupted him. "Ferris. It's no big deal. Magic misfiring like this have happened before. Probably someone forgetting to control their mana gate most likely." Ferris looked out at the window again. "Subaru-kyun better not do anything reckless again. Like getting into a fight with Julius. That was stupid of him. Emilia-sama is currently having a contract with Crusch, to heal his gate. To be honest, his gate wasn't looking too good when I first started treating him, but it's slowly coming back. It'll take at least a month, perhaps even more, to restore his gate back to normal."

Back at the top of the building where Subaru's self-hatred poured out, the transformation was still ongoing. When it ended, the unknown figure announced the completed transformation. "Process has been completed. Your gate is at maximum potential. And man, for that, you don't look half-bad. The catch could have been way worse. In fact, you are quite the looker. Much better looking in fact. I must say, it is a blessing in disguise. Take a look at yourself, Subaru-kun. Maybe you'll like the changes that resulted from my power transfer. After all, it's what I specialize in the first place."

The first thing that Subaru noticed is that his skin was paler, with the same skin tone as Emilia. His height remained the same though. Subaru looked at his hands.

He soon looked to the sides. He now has silver hair that extends down to his shoulders, in addition to his eyes changing their color to blue. Subaru's hand began to shake in disbelief. He looked down to find a Pyroxene Crystal on his chest, around the same location as Emilia's. The only difference is the color of blue. There was no way that he just had accepted this offer to cease being a human in order to gain the ability to use magic. He soon reached to his ears. They were no longer round. They were slightly pointy, exactly like Emilia's ears. "N...No...No way, my ears! What have you done!?" His attire has changed as well. He no longer has that tracksuit from his world. Instead, he is wearing the same outfit that Saito wore to his wedding with Louise. On his former attire in the inside was ingrained the N symbol for 'Natsuki'. Holding the black clock was the ingrained symbol of Emilia, a pin attached to his left side.

Subaru, shocked at his new appearance, shouted in disbelief. "What...What...What...THE HELL! What have I become? So, this is me. I'm no longer human. I am now a half-elf like Emilia. But...my voice is still the same. You have got to be kidding me. Of course, there has to be a catch when you get new powers. Of course. What did I even expect in the first place? Not only that, I am dressed like a knight too! And I'm not even a real knight in this world. Just a self-proclaimed one to Emilia-tan. And that was me being a complete asshole. I played numerous JRPGS. Final Fantasy in particular. I should have known what a knight really means, instead of walling in my pride. Should not have applied Japanese government principles here. I hate being human sometimes. Really. It can bring out the worst in me, and make the situation even more complicated. Does Emilia even miss me at all? This form is going to cause me a bunch of problems now!"

The figure looked up and down, to see what Subaru looked like now. "That's correct. The catch is that it causes your race to change, but it allows you to retain the same voice. Your face structure has also remained the same as well. So basically, you are still the Subaru that Rem loves. Anyone that has known you will still recognize you by your voice, which is unchanged. Just a different race and appearance. You are now a half-elf. Based on what my powers gave you, the Yin Magic in you is one of, if not the strongest in Lugnica. Your Water magic is also good as well, 2nd to Ferris. Which makes you fit the role of a Paladin."

He simply couldn't believe it. This random person, had the abilities to give people powers. Who was he, and what are his intentions? Before, he was powerless, helpless, a mere normal being from Earth who just got teleported to Japan. Now, he was this person who rivaled Emilia in strength. "Um...so..this means that the treatment to get my gate healed by Ferris is void? I mean, it makes zero sense to get healed when your mana gate is completely fine." The mysterious person shook his head. "Yes, that is true. You don't need treatment by Ferris anymore. I have also make sure that your gate doesn't break if you use too much mana at once. If that is the case, then your Pyroxene Crystal will turn a grey color. Speaking of that, your Pyroxene Crystal is an indicator of strength left in you and the amount of mana. It starts out as blue first. When either of those things get low, your Pyroxene will begin to blink red. It will blink faster and faster until it becomes gray. Your mana will recharge over time when you are not using any magic. Depending how much you use and the type of spell, this charge time will vary. Got it?"

 _"So basically, my Pyroxene acts like the Ultraman Color Timer that I have watched in Japan. Good to know. This should be helpful. In fights, this can tell me how much strength I have, thus making the correct choice in engaging the fight or not."_ Subaru thought to himself. What was he going to do with these new powers? The first thing that he thought of was to help other people using his water healing magic, but he doesn't know if he himself will post a threat to others. He was just a human covered to a half-elf who have gotten these powers. On top of that, he didn't know what Yin magic he could use. The only one that is he knows of is Shamac, and even that has it's limitations, as shown with his fight against Julius. It had absolutely no effect on him, and he made a fool of himself that day. _"That was an embarrassment and a epic fail on that day. Two promises broken in a single day. Way to go Natsuki Subaru."_ Subaru was thinking about that now, as that was something that he could never take back, since the checkpoint placed him after the fight with Emilia. For the first time, Subaru had to learn from his mistakes in this cruel and unforgiving world.

Subaru was thinking about what situation he has gotten into. Since half-breeds are looked down upon in Lugnica, it is going to make it even harder for him to get around, let alone convince Crusch to join forces with him. "Now how in the heck I am going to get around town without standing out now? I have Emilia's cloak. But still, look at the discrimination against half-elves in Lugnica! It doesn't matter if you are a silver haired half-elf, they are discriminated. I don't know why, but that is the case around here! It's stupid and bullshit! If the Jealous Witch was an Ogre, everyone would hate ogres. If she was a human, same thing. Japan, where I came from, doesn't have this nonsense!"

The unknown figure, looking down at his watch, saw that it was now the time for him to leave and go back down to the Zero no Tsukaima crew. "That is something that you will have to figure out for yourself. Oh, and take this disguise watch. It will disguise you to the form you want. Just speak into it to tell what type of disguise you want. Turn clockwise to activate the disguise. Turn it counter-clockwise to deactivate it. If you want a new disguise, speak into the watch again. That is all I have. Good luck on your endeavor's Subaru-kun. I must talk to my friends waiting at the bottom of the stars, but I'll be back here in a few moments. I know you can win Emilia's heart! And remember Subaru, with great power, comes great responsibility. Power can be used for either good or bad. What matters is the person who wields that power. That is your important lesson for today. Subaru-kun."

With that, Subaru watched as the figure disappeared down the stairs. Subaru tried to follow, along with Rem, but by the time they got to the top of the stairs, the figure was gone. Subaru then turned to Rem to propose a plan to convince Crusch to join the White Whale battle. Subaru knew all too well what the White Whale can do, and it is quite terrifying for Subaru to think. He remembered the moment where Rem was erased by the White Whale. _"Never again. That loop can live in the past."_ Subaru thought to himself. The loop where everyone forgot Rem is no more.

Subaru spoke into the watch to test out its abilities: "Disguise, original human form." He then turned the watch clockwise, which caused him to revert to his original form. The only difference from his original human appearance is his blue eyes, which was something that could not be disguised. His Pyroxene Crystal was also concealed in this state. To test it going backwards, he twisted the clock counterclockwise, reverting him back to his true new form, a half-elf. A silver haired half-elf like Emilia. A half-elf with self-esteem that is in the negative figures. A person that didn't believe in himself.

Subaru then walked from the middle of the moment to gaze at the traffic going in and out of Lugnica's capital city. The carriages, all filled with supplies. Subaru's silver hair danced in the light breeze, with the weather being partly cloudy. His blue eyes with its sanpakugan-like features looked on in the blue skies. "I don't want Emilia to see me in my true half-elf form. After all, I'm simply a pathetic NEET from Japan who's always worried about how others see me. I'm nothing more than a selfish piece of shit. My weakness is causing me to make bad decisions. Look at what happened at the royal selection. I'm sorry for lashing out, but that is how I felt. My world does not work like that at all, that's why I lashed out at the council, because I felt that was not right at all. It was wrong to do something like that in this world. That is not how my world works, Rem. My world has abandoned those outdated ideals long ago."

 _ **A unknown world to Rem**_

Rem shook her head and reminded Subaru that he was her hero, the one that she fell for. "Subaru-kun. You saved me, you are not all that bad. Even though you look different, you are still the same person that I fell in love with. You had the courage to reach out with your hand even when you were in the darkness. Besides, what is Japan? Is that place your home? You mentioned hometown quite often around Sister and Emilia-sama. When you said where you came from, is that true?"

Subaru turned to Rem. He began to explain. This was is going to be his story. If he didn't mention RBD, the witch wouldn't grab his chest. The last thing he wants right now is to RBD due to Satella, the Witch of Envy. With that, Subaru began telling his story. A story about where he came from, and the things that he had from his world. Things that Subaru wished he had today.

Subaru cleared his mouth before talking. "Japan, is a place where I came from. It is not from anywhere in Lugnica. In my place, there is no such thing as gates and magic. Rather, the world is runs on what we called electricity and metias. That's right. We run our world totally on metias, and we have been highly successful at doing it. Each metia that we make is constantly improving, and it replaces the one that is obsolete. There are many types of metia" Subaru then went for his phone that was in the new suit's pocket and showed it to Rem. "This is one type of metia, from Japan. It runs on electricity. Everything in my world runs on it. The things that we use everyday run on this thing. Before, Japan didn't have this. Electricity changed our lives for the better, and numerous improvements are still being made to this day."

Rem was confused at this term. "Electricity?" She was a person that has never heard the term before. It seemed like a term that was completely new to her. Subaru on the other hand, was no stranger to this term. It made sense, because his world ran on this resource. "Rem, have you seen lightning strikes before? Basically, that is the same energy that is used to run this metia. Without it, this thing would be useless. And if you think that this is powerful, the newest ones in my home have gotten even faster and more efficient." Rem nodded, as she kinda understood what Subaru was trying to get at.

Subaru continued to explain this new concept to Rem, who lived in a world that was basically in medieval times. "Yes, electricity. In our world, metias are constantly changing and evolving. Let me give you an example, those dragon carriages that we ride to get from Emilia's place to the Capital will take half a day. In my world, a carriage made from iron and steel would take an hour or less to get there. The fastest of them would give any dragon in Lugnica a run for its money. Another example is sending letters. We have the ability to send them instantly, there is no wait. Communication from far-away parties is also instant. We also use this metia called a computer. It has become one of the most used metias in my world. I was using it before I came into Lugnica."

Once again, another confusing term Rem heard from Subaru. She became curious. "How does this metia 'computer' work?", she asked while tilting her blue haired head. "It's unlike anything that I have heard before. There is no such thing as a 'computer' around here anyways. The only thing me and Ram use to write are quills. And so does Emilia-sama. She uses them in her studies all the time."

Subaru, having plenty of experience with computers due to being a shut in and a NEET in the real world began to explain things. "Basically, the point of a computer is to receive commands from the user, and gives the user instant feedback. You see, the cellphone that I am holding is a metia from my world. By now, this same device has evolved to what is called the smartphone. That thing can do everything. And when I mean everything, I mean everything. All in your pocket. The cellphone I have is rendered obsolete. You see, this metia that I have can only tell time and instantly communicate with other people. Regarding time, we use a much more precise indicator of time in my place. The crystals divide the day into four parts by color. My place defines time in seconds, minutes and hours. And that is the time system that my place has used to this day."

Rem also wanted to know how the government in Japan was like when compared to Lugnica. To her, the place that was Subaru's homeland was being to sound interesting to her. "I see. How about the government in 'Japan'? Can you explain it in simple terms? Is it like Lugnica? How does it operate there? Is it like the Sage candidates in Japan? A royal election of sorts? Picking several candidates to run for the nation? Subaru-kun, isn't it like that?"

Subaru shook his head in response. "No, Japan's government is not even close to Lugnica's. Government systems like Lugnica used to exist, but the changing viewpoint of the people caused that to be in the past. Japan has a government that is everything that Emilia wants. For all to be equal. Japan uses this thing called a constitution. It is basically all of the rules, stated in the 'Articles' about civilian rights. One of them said that all of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin. Let me repeat that again, no discrimination in any relation based on race. Japan doesn't care who you are. Are you an elf, a half-elf, a cat-like person like Ferris, or just a normal human being? You are equal under the law. No exceptions. Today, Japan follows a government called democracy. That is why I got pissed off at the council, because that is wrong according to Japan standards. It is also wrong in general. A person should never be judged by their appearance. Rather, they should be judged by their character. There is also no evil beings in my world. Just humans and animals. No demons, no elves, no cat-people like Ferris. And there is no Witch Cult either. My world, is simply normal. We advance by groundbreaking discoveries in both technology and science. We have people that are specialized in these fields to improve our lives. Lives that are already efficient as it is. We live a life of luxury. A life that the average commoner in Lugnica would dream of. A life that they have a equal standing among other people. Something that Emilia-tan would like. I'm sure that she would like Japan. Anyways, let's go sa…"

 ** _A new, undiscovered Great Spirit_**

All of a sudden, a male voice came from the left of Subaru. "Save Emilia-tan, Suba?" It started him. He turned to his left to see a fox spirit that was about the same size as Puck. He had white fur. "Why you look so startled? You are my contractor." To say that Subaru was shocked was an understatement. "Contractor!? Don't tell me, I am a Spirits Art User? And you are an Artificial Spirit?! I have only seen Puck before, and he was monstrous in his true form. He was scary as heck. Puck turned the landscape into a frozen wasteland with his power. No wonder he is called the Great Spirit. Where in the world di you came from."

The fox nodded his head. "Correct Suba. You are a Spirits Art User, just like Emilia-tan. By the way, my name is Edan, the Arbitrator of Shadows. I will always stay by your side. And also, the same rules apply from your Puck as well. I can only be active from 9am-5pm. Besides, being up drains my mana, so I want to avoid that. I am a Great Spirit that presides over Yin Magic. I guess you can say that I came from the nation in the north, where most of the spirits reside. I had a call that you were the newly converted half-elf who specialized in Yin magic. The one that you specialize in and are best at. To have an affinity for Yin magic is quite rare. Shamac for example, is your basic dark spell. There are several more powerful versions of Shamac that could be useful to you, Suba. Basically, it can be useful, especially to inflict debuffs on your opponents. These debuffs could then be combined with attacks done by the one you call 'Emilia-tan'."

Subaru, wondering what powers he had now, asked Edan. "What powers do I have now?" Edan went to do the exact thing to Subaru that Puck did a month earlier when he was trying to figure out his attribute. Subaru remembered the same thing that Puck did to him. _"Deja vu! This is the exact same thing that Puck used!"_ Edan completed his analysis and looked up and down at Subaru. "Quite a lot Suba. Let me list out some for you. In addition to your Shamak, you have the following: El Shamak, Ur Shamak, Al Shamak, Door Crossing, Dark Bomb, Dark Mist, Dark Matter, Blind, Charm, Doom, Confuse, Curse, Disease, Disable, Eject, Freeze, Gradual Petrify, Immobilize, Imperil, Paralysis, Poison, Sap, Silence, Mini, Sleep, Slow, and Stop. In addition, several more Yin powers have been added to your arsenal. They are the following: **Dark Bullet, Dark Press,** **Dark Flare, Dark Burst, Darkness Rain,** ** **Darkness Cannon**** , **Demon Squeeze. Of course, all of these abilities have varying mana usage.** Suba, you are now the master of Yin magic. With those debuffs, you can turn the tides of battle against you! Plus you can attack now Let's consider a scenario. You use your Shamak to disrupt your enemies sight and movement, and Emilia-tan attacks with her ice magic! Why don't you give it a try? Try Dark Bullet."

He looked at the others for validation. "You can't be serious, right?" Theo shook his head. "If you don't want to try, that's fine. We are not forcing you to use your powers. However, I would like it and see if it actually work or not." Rem nodded as well. "Subaru-kun, if what that man says is true, then that must be the case that you have new abilities. I think you can help Sister, Emilia-sama, Roswaal-sama, and Beatrice-sama."

The newly converted half-elf boy gave a long sigh. He eyed one of the broken pillars and pointed his right hand at it, shaping his hand like a gun without him even thinking of it. "OK! Subaru's most epic magic spell yet! The one you've been waiting for! DARK BULLET!" As soon as Subaru said that, a bullet of shadow shot at the pillar. When it made contact with the pillar, it exploded instantly into a bunch of pieces. Some of the pieces fell onto the ground below, causing some demi humans to question what just happened. Some of them covered away from the site. Subaru, as expected was speechless. He looked at his hands. They were shaking with fear. _"This is a problem. With that, 'Dark Bullet' thing, I could have easily killed someone with that thing. Maybe...just maybe, these powers are...this is just too much."_

Just then, Edan entered. "Also, you have Magic Reflection. So you can reflect any type of magic directed towards you." Subaru objected. "You just made me too powerful now! Just what do you think I am by having these new powers? If I get careless like I did at the capital, I could easily cause a lot of destruction." The white fox familiar looked at Subaru and gave him a sigh. "You accepted Theo's proposal, Suba. This is the result of that. You can't run from this. It's time you accept what you have turned into. Just like how you said that you loved Emilia. Now, can you accept yourself leaving your time as a human behind? That is the true test."

Subaru, realizing the situation that he is in now, accepts his fate. He was now a Spirits Art User. This also means that he is just as powerful as Emilia now. Since he is in love with her, this will make it a whole lot easier for him to protect her, especially against the Witch Cult. What he wanted to do was make up for his mistakes 4 days ago. Well, it was understandable, considering that the council was insulting a possible future ruler. This wasn't modern Japan. He was only human. Humans make mistakes all of the time. He realized that, maybe if Emilia was brought to his modern world, she would like it for sure, free from all of the discrimination. And now, he realize that he has gotten into a bigger mess now with him being a silver haired half-elf. Although Satella was not male, the fact that half-elfs face discrimination troubled Subaru. He recalled to the first day that he arrived in Lugnica. That demihuman-only place he stumbled into. _"I just realized something. Segregation is still rampant_ _. Half-elves like Emilia-tan get the worst of it. And it's something that I can not stand at all!"_

Subaru shook his head. " _Damn. Before I was powerless, and can't do anything. Now, I think I am little bit too powerful. Those powers sound a lot like the ones like in Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, games that I have played. From those games, these abilities are dangerous. If they're the same, one wrong move, and. Damn, how am I going to explain this to Crusch and Ferris. I am still contracted to the healing treatment for my gate. If this ever gets out, everyone is going to start coming after our camp."_

Subaru turned towards the elves. "Whatever you do, keep this a secret. Do not let any of this discovery leave this place. Of course, due to the beam that you just created to that empowering, I bet it'll draw alot of attention to our place. We have to get going as soon as possible. This place is no longer safe for us. I thi..."

Before Subaru could finish, Edan simply floated around and begun to tease Subaru. As a Yin Spirit, he likes to tease people and is pretty nice and laid back like Subaru. "So, you and Emilia-tan had a lovers quarrel and 'split'? And then, you had to die to Puck not once, but three times in a row!? Wow, how does that feel to you? Man, must have that been quite painful shattering into pieces. You even got your head lobbed off once. Guess he got pissed at your girlfriend dying." Subaru looked at Edan with an angry stare. He didn't want to be reminded of his deaths. At the same time, he was shocked that Edan was somehow able to remember what happened to him. He gritted his teeth slightly in response to Edan's teasing, followed by a blush at Edan's last comment. It was enough that he was already suffering from PTSD from his numerous deaths. Dying in cruel, painful ways, something that was taking a tole on his sanity. It chirped away at his facade, piece by piece until he became a broken man.

Subaru responded in a slightly annoyed tone. "Would you stop that?! I don't want to be reminded of dying to Puck three times in a row. That is far enough for me. I had enough of it! Also, Emilia-tan...Emilia-tan..." Edan's snicker got louder until it blew into full laughter. Rem on the other hand was watching the scene unfold in front of her. "You got a nice Great Spirit, Subaru-kun. Emilia-sama would like him too." Rem said with a slight smile on her face. This was Subaru, her knight in shining armor. Despite his change in appearance, what hasn't changed was his personality and his voice. She remembered Subaru saving her life during the mabeast attack, when she has fallen into darkness. Where she didn't know who she was. Yet, Subaru reached his hand to her. For the first time, her life started from zero. And now, it is time for Subaru's life to start from zero. Well, a life starting from a half-elf.

Edan popped out of Subaru's hair again, speaking several things. "Suba, if you love Emilia, you must make it up to her! Just like what Ferris said. Also, I would like to disagree with several things, especially what Puck said. First, Puck said you broke your promise to Lia. Well, there is a saying. 'Sometimes you have to break promises not because you want to but you have to'. What's more valuable, a kept promise, or a person's life? You know the answer to that. He also said that you don't seem to understand how important a promise is to a spirits arts user. I mean, how you could, it is as if Puck expected you to understand all of that in one mouth when you were originally from Japan. I mean, that is just unreasonable, especially when Japan doesn't have such a thing as a spirit-arts user. You are also one yourself. Suba, you make your own rules. Anyways, Puck pointed out that you returned to the mansion against Emilia-tan's wishes. What, did he actually expect you to wait in Crusch's mansion, waiting to be healed by Ferris while the Witch Cult attacks?! How ridiculous! Suba, if you did that, the end result will be the same. You know that better than anyone that Puck will go on his rampage as a result of Emilia dying, because that nulls his contract with her. However, the thing that got me riled up is what Puck said for your third sin. He said you let Emilia-tan die! That is a ridiculous claim, you had no powers to heal her, along with the fact that it was Satella that killed her, which shows that she is not dead. I'm sorry, but I wanted to slap Puck for saying something like that. Puck is also in the wrong as well. There is no way in hell you would let her die. You would have resurrected her if you could, no doubt about it! If that's the case, why didn't he even tell Emilia about a possible Witch Cult attack on her domain?! The main thing is that, you were simply a normal human, who was pulled from his everyday life in Japan. Honestly, I would rather live in that world to spend some time with you, away from this ridiculous mess. But since you are no longer human, you must cherish what you have. You want to make Emilia-tan smile. You want to be of help to Emilia's future, even when she says you are in her way, even when she tells you to stay away. You want to be next to her. It's okay if she doesn't understand. After all, you can't really understand what love is in the first place. You just want to save her. If there's a bleak, painful future waiting for her, you want to take her away to a future where you can laugh together with her! If that is the case, channel your love into action, Suba. That's your duty! Finish Satella off once and for all. You must! For her sake and yours. Remember, a person's life is way more valuable than a kept promise. A broken promise, you can make up. A person being dead for good? There is no make up for that, you can't say sorry to that. Keep that in mind, Suba. Or should I say: NEET-san?"

That made Subaru grit his teeth in annoyance. "NEET?! Give me a break! This isn't Japan." Subaru in the meanwhile reverted back to his normal human disguise form. _"How will Emilia-tan react to me now? I'm a half-elf now. I really don't want her to see me like this. My gate has be fully restored, but at a price. Ferris didn't treat me. Instead, it was this mysterious person. Kuso! I guess I'll have to wear Emilia-tan's cloak for the time being._ _I also need to remain in my human disguise. I also don't want to reveal my new form to Crusch or Ferris yet._ " Just then, an unknown voice came from the left of Subaru "We are also going to aid you in your battle against the White Whale. And we have the sufficient means to do it. And we will also wipe out that Witch Cult scum. They have no idea what's coming to them."

 _ **4 new friends**_

With that, Subaru turned and saw four figures. The first one was a male elf, approximately 6'1 in height, with beige hair color and blue eyes. He was wearing an elven cloak. Another one was a female elf. She was around 5'5, with light blonde hair and bangs. She has a fair complexion and bright blue eyes with average bust size. The third one was another elf with long blonde-golden hair with light blue eyes. She also has a really big bust size. Finally, the last one was that same mysterious hooded figure that gave him his powers. At the sight of this Subaru thought that something was off. Usually, people who concealed themselves means that they don't want to show their face in public. He saw this many times when he was reading numerous manga. Subaru narrowed it down to the mysterious person being an elf, or a half-breed like Emilia. Why would this person have any other reason to conceal himself in Lugnica? He himself has witness Emilia getting picked apart by the elders due to fact that she looked like Satella. Thinking about that made him get riled up in anger.

But what was the most shocking of them all was that the people standing before him was from the anime he watched before getting transported to the fantasy world of Lugnica. Subaru was stunned. In Japan, he watched Zero no Tsukaima, and remembered the characters from that anime show. "You...you are from Zero no Tsukaima! How the heck did you get here? How is this even possible? What the heck is going on around here? This can't be real. Didn't Louise and Saito get married at the end and lived in Japan?"

The elf with the beige hair cleared his throat. "It was a long story, but let me introduce myself, Bidashal is my name. This elf with the light blonde hair is my nephew Luctiana. And the one with the blonde-golden hair is Tiffania, a half-elf. And the last one, well, you will find out who that is eventually. He doesn't want to show it identity right now. It would be a mess for him. But there is one thing that you should know. That he is an elf, he poses no threat. So rest easy. And yes, Saito and Louise married, and had their honeymoon in Japan. Then, Saito came up with something that changed everything. It was a good thing he came up with that plan."

Subaru sighed in relief. Not only he had Rem, but he has the Zero no Tsukaima crew join him as well "That's great! I might as well show you all my true form. I need all of the help that I can get. Thank you for your kindness in assisting me with our upcoming battle. By the way, my name is Natsuki Subaru, but just call me Subaru." With that, Subaru turned his watch counterclockwise. He reverted back to his half-elven form. The three elves gasped in shock. In their world, the three elves watched Re: Zero. Subaru was the human that was powerless. Now, Subaru in front of their own eyes transformed into a completely different race. Someone that actually had power in the world now. Someone that actually can do something. But at what cost? Subaru has absolutely no experience in actual combat besides kendo back in Japan, which won't get him far in Lugnica. His blue eyes and silver hair looked back at them.

Luctiana couldn't believe what she was seeing with her eyes. "But...but how? You were human during the entire show! In Re: Zero, you were a normal human who was powerless in Lugnica. And to add insult to injury, Emilia left you after that pretty big argument. To be honest though, most couples fight in a relationship. It's normal. It's just like my relationship with my future husband. And it's also the first time Emilia has gotten angry. This means that there is passion between you two. Am I right? Man, she is quite the looker. Not only that, but her boob size is pretty good as well."

Subaru, slightly startled at the remark that Luctiana made, started to blush in embarrassment. "I guess, you can say that….Luctiana-san. That elf guy in an unknown figure gave me this, and all of my newfound powers that I have to learn how to use. And I am no longer human, I am a half-elf like her now." Subaru started to tap his feet so that he wouldn't get tired in the first place. As a guy who likes to work out, sitting in one place for too long will eventually make him bored. He then did radio calisthenics to stretch himself, the same that he did back at the village. He then tried to moonwalk on the place, which he found out he was suddenly good at. Rem looked in shock as Subaru seemed like he was getting pulled backwards while walking forward. Subaru then finished the moonwalk with a rapid 1280 spin, then completed the toe stand. The others gave a clap at Subaru's dancing moves. "Look at him, doing some Michael Jackson moves." Tiffania said to her self. "He's quite good at doing it. I'm pretty sure you are going to impress the local Lugnica people here!"

Tiffania, well aware of the discrimination that her world once faced in the past, can agree with Subaru. "I don't blame you, Subaru-san. Those Sage candidates acted like complete assholes, with no regard for the potential new leaders. In fact, they were pretty unprofessional in my opinion. That is how you not act in a government setting. In our world now, we judge people not by their race, their skin color, or their appearance, but by the content of their character. It's based on Japanese principles that we got from Saito-san. I think I understand what it feels like to like to live in a society where discrimination is frowned upon. Well, used to anyway."

Bidashal turned to Subaru to propose a plan to combat the White Whale. "Anyways, we are going to give you an upper hand in the upcoming battle. We have been able to integrate our Elven technology with modern-day Japanese technology. In other words, our world have been using computers, smartphones, and video gaming, much like what you did in Japan, Subaru. I always have a hard time trying to get Luctiana off her phone and her PC, because she is just so hooked into it. I guess modern technology can have its perks. And its shortcomings as well. Even me, I am starting to get hooked as well, but these guys are just too good. It's really hard to to go on full tilt. Some of the elves have gotten ridiculously good. No wonder you gamed all day, because it is so addicting."

Subaru simply chuckled, while Luctiana began to pout because of her embarrassment. "Grr..it's just too much fun beating those savages in gaming. It's too addicting! Cut me some slack! Also, the people trash taking when things don't go their way really gets me ticking!" Just then, Luctiana proposed to Subaru, "If we work together, than we can give you and Crusch and Emilia overwhelming power. What I mean by that, use modern technology to utterly crush the threat that you are trying to eliminate. And give Emilia's place a modern uplift. Because I'm already missing the things from our place. And by the way, we will be joining Emilia's camp as well. I want to introduce Earth's technology. Would be nice if she had the Note 9 or a gaming laptop. It'll speed things up for her quite nicely."

Subaru was confused at what she was trying to say. With that Bidashal bought out two things with his hands. The first thing was a cube-shaped device that was glowing with elven magic on his left hand. The second was a briefcase like computer that had a computer screen and a QWERTY styled keyboard in Japanese on the right. Rem was shocked. She has never seen a Metia anything like that before. Maybe this was the 'computer' metia that Subaru was talking about. "Ah, I see, you are quite confused. This right here is what we called an Elven Storage. Infused with modern technology, and our magic, this thing can store quite a bit of things, while remaining as compact as possible. All four of us have this device for storing our personal belongings. So it's much like your magic in this world."

It was not a dream. Somehow, these guys have figured out how to make such a metia like that. Subaru hadn't thought of that before. _"These guys from Zero no Tsukaima have somehow discovered how to combine both magic and technology from another world and my world. Man, I have no idea on how in the heck did they manage to do that. But if that is the case, this means that we will have a huge advantage against both the White Whale and the Witch Cult."_ Subaru turned to the 4 elves. "Can you tell us what that thing in your right hand is? Rem and I would like to know what that thing does. It seems really cool."

 _ **Materializer in action**_

Tiffania walked over and began typing on the briefcase-like computer. "This is what we called the Materializer. It's a recent piece of Magitek that the Elves have been working on for the past two years. Ever since Saito-san introduced technology into our world, everyone wanted a piece of it. The elves began making the Materializer based on Saito's discovery. Each of us has a copy of this thing. Meanwhile, Tristain changed rapidly. First, we developed a networking system in both the Elven and Tristain lands. This allows us to set up computers for everyone. Everyone in Tristain is consumed by anime, gaming, and Otaku culture. Next, we changed the transportation from carriages to scooter bikes and motorcycles with the only difference is that they operated on magic. Saito also introduced 'LED' lights everywhere, so we run on that now. Candles and lamps are a thing of the past. All thanks to the efforts of Saito." Tiffania sighed, seeing how much reliant on technology she was, especially when there was none in Lugnica. "And this product here is the result of that hard research. This is how it works. I simply type the thing that you want to materialize, and pick the location. I'm going to demonstrate this ability right now. Watch and be amazed."

With that, Tiffania typed in "ball" in the command prompt and click on the materialize button. In a few seconds, a ball as materialize in front of both Subaru and Rem. They could not believe what was in front of them. A ball that appeared out of nowhere. Rem was speechless. "Is that…..magic? How Subaru-kun, did they even do that in the first place?" Subaru simply shrugged his shoulders. "How would I know? That has got to be one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen with my very own eyes." He blinked his eyes a couple of times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. _"Impossible. How is Emilia-tan gonna react to this Magitek? Her life is going to get so much more efficient. First of all, writing will be done on the computer, and it can be printed out with paper. Secondly, she'll get introduced to entertainment. Oh I can't wait!"_

Tiffania simply gave both Subaru and Rem a small smile. "This is the power of magitek, our newest technology. You want some things from your world Subaru, try requesting something by typing in what you want. Go ahead, the choice is up to you." At that instant, Subaru came and went to the Materializer and typed in "Udon noodle dish". Sure enough, one materialized right into his hands. He began to eat it, because he hasn't ate anything ever since breakfast at Crusch's mansion. In only a matter of moments, the Udon dish was completely gone. A slight smile came from Rem, who turned to the 4 elves. "Subaru-kun is quite an eater, isn't he?" They all nodded in agreement.

Subaru had a taste of his hometown, Japan. He was simply happy that he was able to eat Japanese food for the first time in a long time. After all, he was a NEET that usually bought fast meals so that he could game pretty much the entire day. He had to also be fit in order to defend his house, shall anyone tried to attack him. Attack him while his parents are out. In other words, Subaru closed his eyes, and remembered himself being absolutely useless and doing absolutely nothing. Sitting at home reading manga and playing video games. How was that even productive in the first place? He vowed to never, ever go back to that way of living for good. Meanwhile, Edan came to the realization of something after hearing everything about the new technology that Tiffania proposed.

He popped back out from Subaru's hair again. "Suba, this could be a good opportunity to bring in modern stuff from your world in Lugnica. I mean, that is quite amazing, even for a great spirit like me. I have never seen such a thing that would be so advanced. The power to materialize anything from your home world Subaru, imagine what you can do with that. Heck, maybe you can get Emilia-tan on that new metia from your world as well. Welp, I'll go back to the crystal for now to rest and conserve my mana. Suba, you can count on me to come to rescue Emilia-tan with you! And let me try that metia as well! I would love to get a hold of it. The four elves have really gotten me interested in this new metia."

Subaru gave the fox in white a little smile. "Indeed. We could use that. It would give us a huge advantage. But now, let's turn our attention to something that is a bigger problem. That problem is 'The Witch's Cult.' Edan, you keep out for anything that seems suspicious." Rem was a little taken back, but she also realized something. That there was a big problem that was about to occur at Emilia's place. "The Witch's Cult?" Subaru looked at Rem and replied to her. "Yeah, they're on the move and they've set their sights on Emilia."

The unknown mask entered the picture. "Most likely, it was caused by Emilia's announcement of being a candidate for the throne, along with the fact that she looks like that scum Satella. Those scumbags!" Bidashal interjected. "I would also like to add something. Based on my calculations, we have only three days to save your girlfriend and the village before they get wiped out. We have to act fast. Or else you won't be able to...marry Emilia." That interjection made Subaru blushed red in embarrassment, Emilia as his wife? Subaru thought that Bidashal was getting ahead of himself. Rem entered in once again. "Roswaal-sama feared that might happen, as well."

Subaru, the silver haired half-elf, continued. "I want to stop them, but I don't have the proper combat skills to use my magic at the moment. Heck, even if my mana gate is fully restored, I am not going to use it until I need it. I have to start negotiating now to pull something together. Will you help me?" Without hesitation, Rem nodded yes. Subaru then turned towards the four elves to his left. "Will you help me as well?" They all nodded yes as well. "Is this even a question? Of course we are going to help you. And we are going to abuse the Materializer. Just wait, Subaru-san. It'll be great. Computers will be our friend. You had a gaming obsession. Right?" Tiffania said, being the bubbly and naive half-elf. Subaru nodded in agreement, she was right. In Japan, he used his time to play games. The fact that the elves from Zero No Tsukaima can materialize something means that he'll have fight his habit of getting back into gaming once again. This was a time to begin negotiations with Crusch, not get distracted with League of Legends. "We are gong to bring games to Lugnica, Subaru-san!" Tiffania said. "Emilia-sama would love it!"

 _ **A new resolve**_

Bidashal walked to Subaru and put a hand on his shoulder. "Subaru, we are sticking to your side. Our mission is to bring modern technology to Lugnica and to discover more about this world we just arrived in, just like you are doing the same as well. Well, shall we go and begin negotiation talks at Crusch's place? Time is a ticking. Three days before they attack and make mince meat out of the village and Emilia-sama's place. We have to start the negotiations as soon as possible!"

Subaru, leading the pack, started to make his way back to Crusch's place along with Rem and the party of four elves. "Yes, we are going to make our way back there immediately. There is no time to waste, let's move out." The pack, made their way back down the stairs and walked their way towards Crusch's place. No one talked for the first 10 minutes of the walk back. Mostly, it was the elves that were looking around them, this unfamiliar environment that was Lugnica. Theo was looking around as well. He was wearing a disguise so that no one could see him. _"What in the hell did I just do? Oh well, I guess he asked for it. Ugh, not the time to think about that right now. We have to save my daughter. That Witch Cult scum will be wiped out by my own hands. And Geruse, what the hell happened to him? I hope that Re:Zero show isn't for real. Also, for whatever reason, that Roswaal guy gives me the creeps. He does not seem trustworthy to me at all. That slimeball might be planning something. Maybe I am just overthinking things. Maybe after Crusch's negotiations, Bidashal or Tiffania can give Subaru-kun a metia upgrade. That means giving him the elven storage, the Note 9, and the Dell G7. Fortunately, the Materializer can handle that. The Otaku Knight would love these things. Since he is an Otaku, I wonder if I could play squads with him in Fortnite and Rings of Elysium? And I hope he gets rid of that crummy flip phone from 2001. Seriously, that thing is completely useless. I'm glad that Saito gave us the smartphone. It's a pocket computer, all in one device. You can game, can research, can take pictures, can watch videos, can chat with other people online. It's simply amazing. I can never go back to letters ever again. Quill writing? No way. That thing can stay in the past."_

Luctiana, thinking about the modern things that she will materialize, thought: "We are simply not just going to beat the White Whale, and the Witch Cult, we are going to annihilate them with modern magitek. These savages of people will know, what the real power of modern technology will bring. This is our duty, to fight for what is right, and to use every possible dirty strategy against our enemies. Even if it is not a noble thing to do. These savages known as the Witch Cult with their outdated magic will realize how doomed they are to fail. It's going to be….game over for them in an instant. These void missiles and guns will kill both the body and the soul. I have seen what Louise's magic can do. It's no joke."

Subaru was walking with the crew, thinking about Emilia. What was she thinking right now? How is her life in the mansion back without Subaru? _"One thing is for sure. Emilia-tan isn't doing so well without me. The fact that she faces constant discrimination due to her race, and her similar appearance to Satella basically means that she has little to no allies. Also, we need to modernize Emilia's camp too. I have missed my computers and games. Dammit, if I only had more money to afford a iPhone, I would have at least have something to play with when I have nothing to do. Wait...why in the hell am I thinking about stuff like this? I should be focusing on gathering an army to fight that White Whale and the Witch Cult, not think about games! Man, being a Otaku means it's hard to let go of those habits. They always say that old habits die hard, and I can see where they are getting that quote from. Even when I got to Lugnica, the way that I lived in Japan came back to haunt me. I can still be a gamer without being a lazy NEET."_

As the walking came to an end, Subaru turned his disguise watch back clockwise to change his form back to his original human form. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. Plus, Crusch is going to question his change in appearance, along with Ferris. At last, Subaru and the Zero no Tsukaima Crew came into walking distance of Crusch's mansion. Subaru thought to himself, "This is where the negotiation is going to start. To start at night." Tiffania commended on the size of the mansion that came into view. "Wow, that's pretty big Subaru-san. Is this where you got your treatment with Ferris?" Subaru turned back to Tiffania. "Yes, this is the place. To repair my mana gate. Of course, that won't be needed anymore since the one in the mask gave me these new powers." Luctiana also joined in the conversation as well. "I admire your resolve for standing against Emilia, to stand against the racist comments that she got. Saito's values that he got from Earth taught me the right thing." Subaru nodded to Luctiana's comment. Bidashal kept walking, seeing other demi-humans and regular humans on the street. _"Hmm, judging by the fact that there are all sorts of races in the city, it is where they are accepted. As shown in the anime, only that humans lived in Irlam village, suggesting that they face discrimination or hostile reactions."_ Luctiana was getting bored, so she started to pull out her Note 9, but Bidashal stopped her. "Luctiana! Don't do that right now! We are going to stick out like sore thumbs if they see us with our smartphones!" Theo, Emilia's father in the cloak/mask, also agreed. "We can't afford doing that either. Let's wait until we enter Crusch's mansion first. From what I can tell, she is a pretty level-headed person. Subaru-kun will explain who we are anyways." Subaru turned to Theo, overhearing what he said. "Can I say that we are friends and come from the same place? Because she'll be suspicious of you guys if I don't say that." Bidashal gave Subaru the go ahead. "All right then. You can say something like that." Eventually, they came past the gate that led to Crusch's place. Wilhelm was standing to the side. He saw Subaru, Rem and the four elves. "Subaru-dono! Wait...who are those four people?" Subaru replied cheekily. "Well, those are my friends that came from the same place as me. Um...I have something important to discuss with Crusch tonight." Wilhelm nodded. "So that's why you came back. I see. I should probably notify Crusch of this." He then walked towards the entrance of the mansion. The elves sighed in relief. "We got though that smoothly." Tiffania said. "I was worried for the moment that they might think of us as being sketchy. Lugnica is quite harsh, based on the episodes of Re:Zero that I watched with Saito and the others."

Meanwhile, Ferris, the best water healer in Lugnica, saw Subaru, Rem and the four new people, with one wearing a mask. "Subaru-kyun is back. Huh? Who are those four people?" Crusch looked up from her desk, as she was busy. "Ferris, what do you mean by four people?" Ferris pointed with his hand to the window. Crusch stood up from her desk and walked over to what Ferris was pointing at. Sure enough, Ferris was correct. Crusch was a little confused. "Hm...they don't seem like they are out to harm us. However, they are definitely elves. They are very rare around Lugnica. Perhaps they are friends with Natsuki Subaru? I should probably ask him about those four people." Ferris' cat ears perked up. "Hm, the Witch Cult is responsible for them vanishing into nyow air?" Little did the Crusch's/Emilia's faction know, the power of modern technology/magtiek will shake up the very core of their everyday lives and the spoils of military warfare.


	5. Negoations and Technological Upgrades

_**At Crusch's mansion, Loop 4, Arc 3. Night 4**_

After Subaru arrived to the mansion, he convinced Crusch that Tiffania, Bidashal, Luctiana, and Theo (in a disguise in a mask), was his friends that came from the same place as him. They weren't sure at first, but there was no wind that was blowing around him, indicating that they are not lying. Crusch lead the four elves to the waiting room while Subaru began negations with Crusch. As they wait in the guest room. Tiffania the half-elf was starting to get bored. "I guess sitting in this room for too long is boring. I'm gonna play some Fortnite on my Note 9." She then sat down in one of the chairs and pulled her Note 9 out. Before Bidashal knew it, the half-elf was already at the Fortnite loading screen. Bidashal commented on Tiffania. "Wait! Perhaps we should turn down the volume. Oh well, never mind. Let me join in as well!" He got out his Note 9 and booted to the screen for Fortnite. Luctiana followed as well, signing into the screen. In a matter of a few minutes, the three invited each other to join a lobby. It was Season 6 as of now, and Tiffania couldn't wait to start a match, "Subaru-san would so love this game." Meanwhile, Theo shook his head as the three began to play. "Fortnite these days, it's so popular in Tristain. No wonder everyone is playing it, because it is free. Oh, and don't get so salty! That goes to you Luctiana." Luctiana shot an angry glare at Theo. She was a sore loser when it comes to video games. Finally, the matchmaking section began. A lobby was found. It was 15 seconds before the bus went off to start the match. The trio looked at the map to see where the bus would go. "So, where is the bus going to travel to this time?" Luctiana asked Tiffania. The half-elf looked at the map. "Um...looks like we will be coming from H1 and traveling down towards G10." Bidashal nodded at Tiffania. "Whatever we do, DO NOT land at Tilted Towers. That place is a death trap. Unless you want to get mascaraed, I would advice staying away from that spot." Luctiana agreed. "So, where are we going to land in the first place? Maybe Snobby Shores? There is good loot there." Bidashal tried to decide on if that place is the best to land at. "Most likely, we should land there. There might be a squad that lands there, so do your best to take them out!" Luctiana and Tiffania shouted in agreement. "Roger!" The countdown reached zero, and the match started. As the bus moved from one end to the other, one by one, each played jumped from the bus. Tiffania set the marker to Snobby Shores, and the trio dived towards that location. As expected, there was also another squad there. A four player squad. They landed on the opposite house from the Zero no Tsukaima trio. They also had different costumes as well.

Meanwhile, Tiffania began chipping away to get into the roof. There, she found a chest that contained a blue assault rifle and some grenades. Luctiana and Bidashal wend down stairs to loot. Down the floor of the house, Luctiana got a green pump action shotgun, a med kit, and a purple pistol from one of the chests. Bidashal got a white SMG with a blue semi-auto shotgun. "Not bad. Where are the damn shields?" Luctiana said as she looted the house. She went down to the basement level. "Ah ha! I found some shield potions! Two of them! Bidashal, get one of the shield potions." Bidashal went down and grabbed the shield potion and drank it. Luctiana also drank her shield potion as well. They both now have 150 health. Tiffania made her way downstairs to the bathroom and found another shield potion which was the 50 shield one. She drank it and it filled her up. Just then, Fortnite gave them the notification that the storm's eye was shrinking. Tiffania looked at the map. "Storm eye is going to shrink in 2 minutes! It looks like the eye is closing in at the bottom right side of the map." Luctiana was already angered. "Damn it! It's on the other side of the map! Let's get over there before we get killed in the storm." The trio made their way out of the house. Just then, they ran over to make their way to the bottom of the right side of the Fortnite map. Unfortunately, there was a squad that spotted them. The squad began firing. One of them got a critical hit on Bidashal, taking his health down from 150 to 100. "Kuso! Guys, take them out!"

A gun fight began between the two squads. Tiffania tried to blast one of them with her assault rifle, but one of them blasted a shotgun headshot, knocking her down to the ground. Her face began to twitch in irritation. Meanwhile, Luctiana took two out with her green shotgun, jumping sideways to dodge bullets. Bidashal was trying to hit the other one, but he kept hiding behind a rock. Luctiana threw a grenade at him, knocking him out of the competition. Bidashal went over to finish of the last one, who fired the SMG at him. He got several good hits on Bidashal, knocking his health down to 20. Bidashal then finished the last person from that squad with the blue semi-auto shotgun. "That was a close one! How much health do you guys have left? I have 20." Luctiana rushed over to Tiffania and revived her. Tiffania had almost no health, "Just 10 health. I need a med kit right now!" Luctiana checked her health as well. "Full health and shields. Didn't expect that at all. Tiffania, here is the medkit." Tiffania put the medkit in her inventory and began healing up. Her health restored back to 100. Bidashal groaned. "I need to find some bandages, or else I am a dead man. 20 health is not going to get me anywhere at all." The clock was ticking right now. Fortnite's storm had begun to close on on the trio. The size of the zone ranged from Tilted Towers all the way to Paradise Farms. Tiffania suggested a place to go to. "Lets make our way towards Fatal Fields. That's where we are going to set up and gather the necessary materials for the final push. Perhaps some of the other squads forgot a bandage or a medkit behind."

With that, Tiffania's squad trio made their way to Fatal Fields. Surprisingly, they didn't come across any other squads on their way there. Slowly but surely, the number of alive players dropped. By now, it was down to around 52 people. The Fortnite kill feed was providing information on how players were eliminated. Just as they reached Fatal Fields, the area of play shrunk. Bidashal looked at the map. "Looks like it'll be pushing us to the desert area of the map, to where Paradise Palms is. You guys make sure to take out anyone that comes from Tilted Towers or Salty Springs." He was looking around Fatal Fields for a medkit. Eventually, he found one that someone the other players missed. Bidashal took advantage of that and grabbed the medkit. Now, his health was back to 100. Meanwhile, Tiffania discovered a venting machine that was purple rarity. She informed the two about her discovery. "Guys! I found a vending machine. We have gather quite a bit of materials, so let's upgrade while we can!" With that, both Bidashal and Luctiana rushed to where Tiffania was. There, each of the elves upgraded their weapons. First to upgrade was Tiffania. She bought a purple RPG, and a purple assault SCAR. Bidashal bought a sniper from there, and a purple RPG as well. Luctiana got a purple RPG and a purple FAMAS that was added to her armory. "More power to me. Good. That means we can kick even more ass. Time to teach these scrubs how to play Fortnite." From there, they kept gathering more materials from Fatal Fields. They all knew that the battles between squads was going to get even more intense in the late stages of the game. Gathering materials right now was a logical choice in Bidashal's point of view. Nothing is worse than running out of building materials while engaged in a gunfight with another squad. Just then, two people came running towards them and started shooting. They missed, which gave Tiffania's crew time to react and go in a corner. "Shit! I see two people on my sight! Take them out!" With that, Tiffania aimed her SCAR at one person and started shooting at him.

He tried to shoot back with his blue AR, but failed to land a single hit. Tiffania on the other hand was able to. She landed multiple hits on him, even though he had a shield. She downed him. Meanwhile, Bidashal aimed with his purple sniper rifle at the other guy and landed a headshot, downing him and eliminated them from the game. The thrill of take someone out made Luctiana excited. It was something that she craves when gaming to win. "YES! We took them out! Now, let's make our way towards Paradise Palms. The zone has already begun to shrink." By now, the player count has dropped to 20, with the white circle depicting the next safe zone. This was the cue for Tiffania's crew to keep making their way to the area, to give themselves a head start when compared to the other squads. By now, this game was entering the late-game phrase, with 15 players remaining. This means that the Zero no Tsukaima crew have to be more diligent, as these players are likely to be skilled at Fortnite. After a couple of minutes, Tiffania and the two others made it to the middle of Paradise Palms. They began setting up a iron base to defend themselves from approaching players. Each of them kept a close eye on their Note 9, waiting for the enemy to appear in their sights. The atmosphere in the guest room was tense, with the outcome of the game based on the person's skill and teamwork. "This is really starting to creep me out. Where are the other players?" Luctiana said, aiming her SCAR at the north section of the area. Bidashal on the other hand was scoped in with his purple bolt-action sniper rifle. "I don't know, but it seems like they are trying to come to this circle as well. We can't also rule out the chance that they are gathering materials and ammo for the fight that is going to be upcoming."

They waited as the Fortnite safe zone shrunk once again. 10 players remaining. The zone was ever getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Just then, an RPG shot from one of the enemy squads fired at their structure. They suffered a direct hit on the structure. Bidashal jumped into action, with him spotting the person that was using the RPG. He returned fire with a sniper bullet of his own, but the drop-off made him miss by a couple of inches. "Son of a bitch! My shot missed!" He then aimed a second shot at the person that was running to the side. This time, Bidashal led the shot and fired the bullet. It was a success. Bidashal managed to score a hit on the person and down him. "Stay down!" Bidashal taunted him, making sure he felt the pain of utter defeat. This was only the beginning though, with this team being a full squad. The other three began their assault on Tiffania's base, with them firing numerous RPGs and grenade launchers at them. Tiffania pulled an RPG and landed a critical hit on two of them, knocking them down. However, one of the RPG shots from the enemy squad landed a direct hit on Tiffania, downing her. "DAMN! That was bull!" Her fists clinched in frustration. Even as a half-elf, Tiffania could feel the aggression that gaming had on her. She was a lot more aggressive, and not the naive half-elf that she normally was. Meanwhile, Luctiana focused on the last guy standing and shot at him with a SCAR. Fortunately, this person was already wounded, and he went down in about 3 shots. By now, the players that were left in the game was down to 6. Tiffania's team retreated to the smaller white zone that popped on the map, and they prepared for the final battle against the large squad. Tiffania got out her last medkit and healed herself to 100%. She also found some shield potions and drank two of them to bring her shields up to 50.

Luctiana drank some shield potions that she had as well to restore her buffer against the last remaining squad. They all reloaded their guns and made their way out. Suddenly, a grenade launcher projectile was launched at them, causing Tiffania's crew to split and began the building/gunfight against the final squad. "Here is the final three! Let's take it to them! They will not beat us!" Luctiana said. With that, Tiffania fired a RPG at the structure that was created by the enemy squad. Meanwhile, Bidashal fired his AR, and Luctiana fired her SCAR at one of the members of the enemy squad. Despite getting some decent hits, they began to build as a way to defend themselves from Tiffania's ruthless onslaught. "We have them pinned! Take them out NOW!" Bidashal said. Tiffania shook her head in agreement. They began building, eventually outbuilding the other team. Each member of Tiffania's team fired RPGs at the trio below, utterly destroying everyone on the other team. With that, the "Victory Royale!" message popped up on the screen, indicating that they won the game. "YES! Victory!" Tiffania said with joy. Both Bidashal and Luctiana high-fived each other. "Good work. We got 10 kills in this game. Oh my, I can't wait for the next one! Subaru needs to join us in Fortnite. I bet he'll be good at this game. If not, I can teach him the ropes in the 'Free Building' mode thing that they added to the game. Now, has Subaru-kun even finished his negotiations yet? I want him to get rid of that crummy flip phone from 2001. Serously, that thing is useless in Lugnica!" Theo nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Let Subaru-kun finish his negotiations first before we proceed."

 ** _Meanwhile at Crusch's Office_**

Subaru managed to offer Crusch a proposal to battle with the White Whale. In the room was Wilhelm and Ferris, Crusch's knight. Also in the room was Rem and Subaru himself. Crusch was confused. "What was that?" Subaru clarified himself once again, "All right, I'll repeat myself one more time. I propose an alliance between the Emilia and Crusch camps, on equal terms. To that end, I'll provide the time and location of the White Whale's next appearance. That's the one card I can play." That word strike Wilhelm with a slight sadness. His wife, the previous Sword Saint, was killed by this wicked creature. "The White Whale?" An aura formed around him, which Subaru was taken by surprise. Wilhelm apologized for this. "Please forgive my indiscretion. I suppose I still have much to learn." Crusch looked back at Subaru. "And. It is rather sudden that you would bring up the White Whale." Subaru countered. "Not at all. When we began this negotiation, I mentioned the magic stones found in Roswall's domain, in Elior Forest. If sharing the mining rights is insufficient, I need to offer something on top of that. Crusch-san, I'm certain that my information will aid in your plan to subjugate the White Whale." Crusch was skeptical. "Let me ask one thing, Natsuki Subaru. What gave you that idea? That remark was not one you might pass off as a baseless accusation." Subaru took notice of things that was happening of the past few days, some things have bothered me. First, the increase in traffic to and from your mansion. It's been just a bit excessive. Also, in the capital, I heard you've been purchasing weapons and armor. Plus...'If Crusch-sama's goal should be attained, I'm sure it would suit your desires, Wilhelm-dono.`"

Subaru was thinking that Crusch was planning something. "You seemed to be planning something big. Of course, I can't prove it. Maybe I only made the connection because I know the White Whale will be appearing soon." Crusch wanted to ask something else. "I have another question, Natsuki Subaru. On what ground do you know that the White Whale will appear?" Subaru had his phone in hand. That crummy 2001 flip phone. He pushed the phone to the desk. "This." Crusch, Ferris, and Wilhelm looked at this. Crusch hadn't seen anything like this before. "What in the world is this?" A slight smirk came from Subaru. _"The moment before that happened..."_ Subaru clarified. "It's what you'd call a metia." Crusch picked it up and played around with the thing. Ferris tried to get a good look at it as well. Subaru continued. "It tells me when and where the White Whale will appear." Crusch put the phone back down. "I find this a bit hard to believe... But I can see that you are not lying." Subaru was confused. "I'm glad you think that, but are you sure you want to believe me so easily?" Ferris chimed in. "Lies will get you nyowhere with Crusch-sama. She as the divine protection of wind-reading!" Subaru was even more confused. "Uh, say what?" Crusch clarified. "When a person lies, a telling wind blows around them. I can see that wind. No such thing was around you." Subaru responded. "Does that mean you'll agree to an alliance in exchange for my information on the White Whale?" Crusch noticed that Subaru was getting ahead of himself. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Natsuki Subaru. Whether I agree to it, and whether I believe you are separate matters." Subaru nodded. She was right. "My decision will determine the outcome of the royal selection, if not the kingdom's very future. It cannot be made lightly."

Just then, a female voice popped out from the outside door. "Mind if I listen in on this lil' chat, too?" Two people walked into the room. One of them was Russell Fellow. "Pardon us." The other one was Anastasia Hoshin. Crusch looked at them. "Anastasia Hoshin...Russell Fellow?" Anastasia waved her hand and gave a small giggle. "Well, y'all asked us to come, and here ya are, startin' without us. You can hardly call that fair. Let us in on this." Crusch was watching them. "Was it Natsuki Suabru who asked you to come here?" Anastasia replied. "Well, to be exact, it was this gal he keeps with him. I only heard the gist, but if you're really plannin' to subjugate the White Whale, I look forward to it! For us business folk, whether the White Whale's around is a life-or-death matter. Of course, our mercenary team will help y'all." Russell Fellow also joined in. "In addition to the White Whale, I'm interested in the concession that Natuski-dono proposed of mining rights to the magic stones. If the alliance is formed, magic stones from the pristine veins will be distributed to the capital through you, Crusch-sama. As the merchant guild's representative, I cannot let the offer go unheard." Crusch looked at Fellow, "Natsuki Subaru called you as well?" Subaru looked at Crusch-sama. Subaru repeated himself once again. "I'll say it once more. What I offer in return for the alliance is a share in the magic stones mining rights and information on when and where the White Whale will appear. In other words, the fuel needed to subjugate the witchfiend that's terrorized the world for so long! If what I say makes no sense to you, forget I said it. But if your goal and my wish align, then let's take down the White Whale! Let's go on a hunt!" Crusch let out a sigh. "I still have several questions, but it was brilliant of you to uncover my plans." Subaru looked at her. "Then..." Crusch kept on going. "I have questions, as well as doubts. Many things you say are unclear to me, so I have difficulty agreeing immediately. However...I shall choose to trust your eyes and the spirit that led to create this situation." She shook hands with Subaru. "Then the deal is struck." Fellow said as Subaru sighed in relief. "There were a few touch-and-go moments, but I'm glad it worked out, Natsuki-dono. I trust the promise we made prior to the negotiation still stands."

Subaru gave him his thanks. "Yeah you were a big help, Russell-san. Once the subjugation is complete, I'll give you the metia." Crusch watched Subaru and let out a happy sigh. "So you did lay some groundwork before coming here. I'm assuming you were waiting outside the door for your moment to enter?" Anastasia responded to Crusch's remark. "The timing of our interruption was up to us, though. Well, as far as negotiations go, I guess that just passes?" Subaru looked up at her. "Took you long enough! I thought you were never gonna enter!" Anastasia gave Subaru a wink. "When negotatin', you gotta make your move at the right time. Well, as you're gettin' ready for the subjugation and such, don't forget to patronize the Hoshin Company." Anastasia walked out of the room. "You have the way before negotiations began? You are surprisingly shrewd, Natuski Subaru." Subaru was humbled to hear that. "My preparation and review paid off, that's all. To be honest, I couldn't be more relieved." Ferris commented on that. "Well, that's plain to see." He let out a laugh, and so did Subaru. "I guess we managed to save face by staying in the capital. Right Rem?" Rem confirmed. "Yes, you are truly wonderful, Subaru-kun." Meanwhile, Wilhelm interrupted. "Subaru-dono...I thank you." Subaru was taken aback by Wilhelm's attitude. "Huh?" He was bowing to Subaru in respect. Wilhelm continued, I offer you gratitude equal to that which I offer to my lady, Duchess Crusch Karsten." Subaru looked at him. "E-Er, that's, um..." Wilhelm continued. "As perceptive as you are, I am sure that you're aware, but if I may introduce myself...My family name is Astrea. I took the previous Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea, as my wife, giving me the honor of the bloodline's lowest seat. That is who I, Wilhelm van Astrea, am. I thank you for so kindly granting this old man the opportunity to slay the loathsome witchfiend that took my wife." He bowed again and Subaru stood up. "S-Sure! Of course I knew that! I figured Crusch-san would accept my offer, keeping that in mind-" Crusch got a little annoyed. "Natsuki Subaru...The wind of untruth is blowing from you."

 ** _Prepping for battle_**

It was time now, the armies were prepping into the night. Everyone was getting ready now. Crusch called for Tiffania, Bidashal, Luctiana, and Theo (under a mask disguise) to talk with them about Natsuki Subaru's alliance proposal. They listened and nodded to what she said. The four of them made their way to where Subaru was. "I get it now. You bought all of the carriage for this, and that's why I had trouble getting one back to the mansion." Ferris walked to where Subaru was, laying on the tree. "You're still awake?" Subaru looked at Ferris. "As if I could sleep. Back to where I came from, I would normally stay up until the early morning. I have never been a early sleeper. Besides, everyone else is working through the night." Ferris responded. "That have nyo choice. We have little time." Subaru responded. "Yeah, the White Whale will appear tomorrow night, in the area around Flugel's Tree." The four elves join in. "Subaru-kun. In addition, the White Whale have devastating abilities. One of them is the Fog Breath. Whatever you do, don't get caught in the thing." Both Subaru and Ferris were confused and turned to Bidashal. "Huh?!" Bidashal shook his head, "That White Whale will wipe out your existence. In other words, no one will remember you, and no one will remember what you did, because you never existed." Ferris was a little startled. "So it can nyo our existence?" Bidashal nodded. Ferris went on to finish his thoughts. "So, given the travel time, we'll just barely make it. Besides, can't you see it in nyall their faces? Nyot a single one is preparing unwillingly. Everyone wants to be rid of the White Whale, especially Old Man Wil."

Subaru remembered him saying something about his wife. "He said it took his wife..." Ferris nodded. "Yeah. He's been chasing after the White Whale all of this time. Ever since it killed the previous Sword Saint, his wife. Subaru thought to himself. "The previous Sword Saint..." Ferris continued with what he was going to say. "Well, now you know, so you should stop worrying and get to sleep. There's nyothing you can do to help with supply distribution or organization anyway." Tiffania agreed. "Subaru-san is going to talk with us in the mansion, so please feel free to take care of the others, Ferris." Subaru nodded and turned to Ferris. "I guess I'll go back into the mansion and get ready for the fight ahead. Take care Ferris. I mean, even if that's true, did you really have to say that?" Ferris let out a laugh as he walked away. "Ferris-kun is a person you can easily get along with. I like his attitude." Luctiana said. "He's pretty chill." Subaru hated to admit it, but Ferris was a down to earth guy. Meanwhile, Bidashal called out to Subaru. "Subaru-san! There is something that I need to discuss with regards to technology! Let's meet in one of the guest rooms that Crusch assigned for us." Subaru all of a sudden felt a rush of excitement coming from him. The next moment, he tagged along Bidashal. By then, the various soldiers were gathering supplies and carriages for the White Whale fight. Both Crusch and Ferris were overlooking the operations. By now, the four elves from Zero No Tsukaima and Subaru were at one of the guest bedrooms. There, Subaru didn't realize that he was going to get the biggest quality of life upgrades.

 ** _The Reveal_**

In the bedroom, Subaru sat down at one of chairs that was in the room. Tiffania and Luctiana sat down at the queen sized bed, while Theo and Bidashal found their own chairs to sit on. Subaru looked down at the four elves, wondering why they have brought him here. "So, what brings me here?" Subaru asked. Bidashal turned to Subaru, waiting for the big reveal. "Subaru, I think it's time that we let you know who the person in the mask is. He is the one that healed your gate completely and dramatically increased your power." With that, Theo (in a disguise mask). "Sorry for looking like this, Subaru-kun. I was worried that the public will start ridiculing me, for who I am related to. For my appearance." This confused Subaru. "For who I am related to? What do you mean by that?" Theo, still in disguise, shook his head. "Let's just say that the person that I am related to isn't looked upon in the greatest way. And she is one of the candiates in the Royal Election. She is...related to me by blood." Subaru, getting closer to figure out what he was, started to narrow down his options. That means that this person was either a elf or a half-elf that received discrimination. "Are you...wait...this isn't right. This can't be! By...by any chance, are you Emi...Emi...Emi." Theo knew that this was a time to take off his disguise completely. "Yes. After all, I am..." He then took off his mask, revealing his full face. Subaru watched as the mystery person that tagged along with the three people from Zero no Tsukaima reveled himself. Subaru looked at his face features. He had pointy ears, long silver hair that was exactly like Emilia's. He also had eyes that were exactly the same color as Emilia's. "No...NO WAY. You...are..." Theo, finally out of his disguise, revealed his true identity to Subaru. "Subaru-san. My name is Theo, Emilia's father from Elior forest. I'm sorry for showing myself in disguise in front of you, but I had little choice. When I saw that you fell in love with my beautiful daughter with a heart that is pure as snow, I knew that I had to help you save her from the Witch Cult. After all, you wanted to be her knight, right? Seeing you defend her against the court when she was talked in a racist way for looking like Satella. She was right. You are a good person. You are a hero Subaru, don't forget that. And I am grateful that you were able to save my daughter against that fiend Elsa. That bowel hunter who is still on the run as we speak."

Subaru's reaction to Theo's comment made him blush and a slight smile coming from him as a result. "I guess. Um...Theo-san, what actually happened to you? Why didn't you spend more time with Emilia-tan? You're her dad after all. Still can't believe that you are Emilia-tan's father." Theo's elven face turned into a sober one. He walked towards the window so that he could get a look at the moon that was high above the sky. "Let's say that circumstances haven't been so kind to me. I was whisked away from Emilia when she was a baby." Subaru questioned him. "Whisked?" Theo nodded. "Yes, Subaru-san. I landed in the Zero No Tsukaima world, unaware of the fate of my fellow elves that lived in Elior forest. The same way that you got from Japan, Subaru. Summoned into another world without warning. I learned how to live in the elven lands of Zero no Tsukaima for 100 years. That's when we somehow got here once again. By now, 100 years has passed in Lugnica as well." Subaru looked at him with a somber face. "That's really heartbreaking. What about your relatives?" Once again, Theo shook his head. "I really don't know. You may not know this, but Emilia has an aunt named Fortuna, and a disciple named Arch, who is in Tristain's capital. I don't know what has become of Fortuna as of now. As for my human wife, well...she is most likely deceased by now. Anyways, that's all in the past. Subaru-san, Saito from our world introduced technology from his Earth and combined it with our magic, creating magitek. As you can see, every one of us have multiple electronic devices that we basically use everyday. We always keep them on us. You never know when they will come in handy."

 _ **Upgrades**_

We are able to get signals from Saito's Earth using magitek." Subaru was curious. "Signals...from Earth. How did you guys manage to do that?" Luctiana glared at Subaru. "Subaru. Can you give me that flip phone that you have in your pocket?" He complied, and handed his flip phone to Luctiana. "How in the heck did you manage to convince her that this metia can show the location of the White Whale?" Subaru shrugged. "I have no idea. She hasn't seen anything like that before." Luctiana continued. "Because we all know that thing is called a 'phone'. It is used to make instant communication with other people in Earth instantly. Anyways, why in the hell do you still have that outdated piece of technology from 2001? I mean you came here in 2012, righy? Didn't you know that a iPhone 4S was the thing to get at the time? Shouldn't you have bought that?" Subaru shook his head. "Luctiana, I was a NEET back then. NEETS don't really need smartphones to get around life. Instead, we have computers and video games at home to escape shitty mundane life. Back then, I only needed the phone to do one thing, to call people and keep several contacts, just in case of emergency." Theo, a big fan of technology, wanted to give Subaru an upgrade. "If that's the case, why don't we upgrade your phone then? We can materialize a new phone and take that old flip phone to upgrade it as well. We will also made Emilia's camp acquired with technlogy of the modern world as well." Subaru nodded. "I'll do it! Anything that can help keep me entertained and kill time will be helpful." This was the cue for the upgrade process to begin. Bidashal instructed Tiffania to bring up her Materializer. "Tiffania, bring up the Materializer and give Subaru that 2018 iPhone XR in black, 256 GB version." Tiffania nodded and brought up the Materializer from her elven storage. She began typing on the thing. Tiffania typed iPhone XR in the dialog box. With that, the computer instructed her to choose a color. Tiffania choose black. Next, the computer instructed her to choose a capacity. She picked the 256 GB version. It was about time for Tiffania to materialize a new phone for Subaru to use. One that was much, much more powerful. One that can do everything. One that has cell service.

With that, Tiffania pressed the "Materialize" button on the computer screen. In a matter of a few seconds, a iPhone XR was created. It landed on her hands. Next, she materialized a screen protector and a Re:Zero case that had both Subaru and Emilia on it. Tiffania then installed the screen protector and the case before handing to Subaru. "All done Subaru-san! Enjoy your new smartphone!" Subaru took it and looked at the device. It was a beautiful smartphone with a Liquid Retina display and the front that is completely filled by the screen. On the back, there was a single camera with flash. Subaru also noticed the notch in the screen that was for FaceID and the front camera. Subaru was amazed at how fast technology progressed from 2012 in Japan. "I've never thought the day when smartphones had screens that cover the entire front." Theo also gave Subaru information on the specs. "Subaru, this is the A12 Bionic chip. The fastest chip ever. This will destroy any phone out in the Android market right now." Subaru was excited and a little bit nervous at the same time. He had only used the 2001 NEC flip phone before. This was his first smartphone that he ever owned. "Um...this may sound stupid, but how do you navigate on this phone?" Tiffania, the half-elf, gave Subaru a smile. "Subaru-san, it's pretty simple. You use your fingers to navigate the smartphone." Subaru figured out how to boot the iPhone XR up. He turned on the phone, and the Apple logo popped up, lighting the room with it's bright light. From there, Subaru set up his device that was in Japanese. It was natural to Subaru, no longer having to press individual buttons on a phone to write something. Now, it's like a virtual keyboard. Once he got past the setup, Subaru was taken to the home window of the iPhone. He saw multiple apps that were already preinstalled. In addition, he was also surprised to see 4G LTE at full bar strength. "Cell service in Lugnica?! Unbelievable! A connection from Earth! And these apps, can you imagine what I can do with this thing?!" Bidashal added in additional information. "In addition, our plan is unlimited. Subaru, do you see the App Store?" Subaru looked at the App Store icon. "Interesting. Do you have to pay for third party apps?" Bidashal answered his question. "Depends on the app. You can download any app that you want. That means you can do mobile gaming! Some of the best mobile games out there are free."

Subaru also noticed the unlimited battery life. "Never ending battery? Man, you guys really changed Tristain. Um, Luctiana, which free to play games should I download?" Luctiana was thinking for a couple of minutes before giving an answer. "Alchemist Code and Puzzle and Dragons." With that in mind, Subaru went on to download the Alchemist Code and Puzzle and Dragons. Since he was an anime watcher, he also downloaded an anime app that allowed him to watch anime. Bidashal was a little worried. _"Great. This might be a bad idea. Subaru might go back to his NEET habits in Japan. Let's hope he puts priority on getting sleep for the White Whale battle, rather than gaming on his phone all night like he did with gaming in Japan."_ Luctiana gave some information on the game he is downloading. "Subaru-san, those games that you just have downloaded are called Gatcha games." Subaru was confused. "Gatcha games? What does that mean?" Theo cleared his throat. He began explaining to Subaru what a gatcha game is. Ever since he got his Note 9, Theo had an addiction to gatcha games that grew rapidly. Nothing excited him like feeling the thrill of getting something good at the mercy of RNG. "Just think of gatcha games as RNG based. The rolls you get are random, depending on rarity. It's quite fun once you experience it yourself." Subaru nodded. He then went to Safari and changed his wallpaper/lock screen to a picture of Emilia-tan. Luctiana gave an eye roll. "I knew he was going to do that! He ogling all over her like it's no tomorrow."

Tiffania almost forgot something. "Oh, and by the way, Subaru-san, we are going go get you two new things. First of all is the elven storage that I told you about earlier. You already know what it does. Bidashal will give it to you." With that statement in mind, Bidashal pulled out a spare Elven storage that he gave to Subaru. It was about the size of a small rock. Bidashal explained to Subaru how to activate the thing. "This Elven storage works by touching the stone with your hands to activate it. This will bring up a graphical interface to show you what is in the storage. Right now, the Dell G7 is included in this storage." Subaru was confused. "Dell G7. Don't tell me, are you giving me a gaming laptop?" A big smirk came from Luctiana. "Yep! It is a gaming laptop from Dell with a GTX 1060 MAX-Q, an i7-8750H, which is a six core processor, 16 GBs of RAM, and a 1TB SSD." Subaru was starting to feel that they were spoiling him as much as his parents. "Eh...we have to keep this a secret for now. We don't want to let the others know about what we have. Let me give this a shot." Subaru activated the Elven storage and pressed Materialize to get the Dell G7 out of the storage. It landed right in Subaru's hands. He was amazed at how thin and sleek the desktop looked. "A GTX 1060 MAX-Q? That is ridiculous. Normally, the best GPU we have in my world is the GTX 580. That 1060 sounds extremely powerful." Luctiana shook her head. "It is a mid-ranged GPU, but it can play game at 60 FPS in high settings. Since you liked to play games all day, this laptop would be perfect for you. You can do anything you want with it. Also, it comes with a connection to the internet that is from Saito's Earth, as well as infinite battery life." Subaru was ready to jump to his seat in joy. All of a sudden, he got a sudden increase in technology. _"After we defeat the Witch's Cult and the White Whale, I need to show this to Emilia-tan. Rem and Ram can get these devices too if she is curious about it."_ Subaru was going through his thoughts about all of the things that he could do with his new laptop and his new smartphone. He sat back down and turned towards Luctiana. "Any thing that you found on the internet regarding the future of Lugnica?" Luctiana replied with confidence. "I can look that up quickly." With that, Luctiana pulled up her Note 9 and went to the Re:Zero Wiki. She searched up the Archbishops. Luctiana then found something that made her gasp. "REM!"

Subaru's eyes perked up. "What's the matter?" Luctiana was scared. "The Archbishop of Gluttony and Greed!" Subaru was in shock. "WHAT?! Tell me about this Luctiana. If we know what can happened in the future, then we can change destiny. Satella's antics doesn't work because this thing is from another universe. Good thing too, because that yandere motherfucker killed Emilia-tan. I want to make Satella suffer a painful death, and find a way to strip her of her immortality." Theo commented on Subaru's statement. "Good, because every elf and half-elf in Elior despised Satella with a passion. She is the scum of existence, only seeking joy from destruction. If her immortality is removed, I would have already killed her." Subaru still was uneasy about Luctiana's statement. Luctiana answered Subaru's question. "After the victory with the White Whale, it says that Rem and Crusch will get attacked by these two Archbishops. And Gluttony is extremely dangerous. He can erase your name and your memory from this world. In other worlds, he is a humanoid White Whale." Subaru's determination came back again. "Then we have to prevent that from happening to Rem and Crusch and made them avoid that path. Better yet, we could kill Greed and Gluttony on the spot from long distances. Am I correct in assuming something like that?" Bidashal commented on Subaru's remark. "I would say so Subaru. Maybe you would also like some void guns, and so you can become a gunslinger. How does that idea sound to you?" Subaru was thinking for several minutes before giving an answer. "I'm not sure, Bidashal. I want to give it some time." Luctiana jumped in the conversation once again. "Subaru-san, regarding the Archbishop of Greed, he has 100 wives." Subaru was at a loss for words at hearing Luctiana's comment. "100 wives?! What the hell is wrong with this guy? I mean, that is ridiculous." Luctiana shrugged. "How would I know? I found this on the web."

Subaru on the other hand wanted to get in on this mobile gaming, so he opened up Puzzle and Dragons. Bidashal gave him a eye roll. "Seriously Subaru? It hasn't even been one hour since you got the new technology, and you are already addicted to it." The half elf in disguise glared at Bidashal. "Come on. Can't I at least have a break? The negotiations are already done, so I want to treat myself for some playtime." The next moment, Subaru launched the Puzzle and Dragons app. Unfortunately, after he agreed to the term and conditions, the volume was all the way up. The music from the menu screen blasted at full volume. Luctiana scolded Subaru. "Turn that phone volume down! Someone is going to hear that metia! Damn, that's loud." Subaru immediately turned his phone volume to half. "Sorry about that. Anyways, let's get started!" The screen flashed the message 'Start' to Subaru. He pressed on the screen with his finger. It took him to the 'Enter Name' screen. Subaru typed his name in the box and hit 'OK' to confirm. This then took him to the 'Select Monster' screen. There was three options there. "Hmm, we have Tyrra, a fire type. There is Plessie the Water Dragon, and Brachy the wood type." Theo, having played Puzzle and Dragons for one and a half years gave Subaru advice. "Subaru-san, it doesn't matter which starter dragon you pick. Just pick the one you prefer." Subaru said nothing, and decided to go for Plessie and confirmed the selection. It was now registering his game name. It then started updating. Subaru groaned in annoyance. "An update? Dammit!" He waited for several minutes until the game took him to the first tutorial dungeon. The first dialogue box appeared for the tutorial. "Welcome to your first dungeon! Endless adventures await you in dungeons just like this one! Now, let's start with a quick tour of the game screen!"

Subaru was fully into the game. _"A tutorial level. At least the developers had the decency to put that in."_ He continued on the dialogue screen. The game highlighted the 5x6 orbs. "You control these colored Orbs. Lining up 3 or more Orbs of the same color in a horizontal or vertical row will cause them to disappear." Next, Subaru saw that there was a number, which he assumed that indicated his health. "This gauge indicates your HP. If your HP reaches 0, it's game over for you, so be careful!" The game then highlighted the three monsters in on top of the health bar. "These are your ally monsters. They're on your side. They'll attack the enemy whenever you line up 3 or more Orbs!" Subaru was processing this information. "In other words, the orbs correspond to the attribute that my monsters have." Theo confirmed this. "That's correct Subaru. By matching orbs, you can unleash attacks on the enemy!" Subaru kept going on into the tutorial. "Oh no! It's an enemy monster! Line up Orbs to make your allies attack it." Subaru then went on with the tutorial, it explaining the coins that are shown on the upper left, as well as getting used to the Menu Button. This was going to be the first time that Subaru moved an orb in Puzzle and Dragons. "Right, let's try moving some Orbs around! Drag the glowing Orb over to the right side of the screen!" Subaru followed those instructions and moved the orb to the right side of the screen. "Nice work! Now, let's line up 3 or more Orbs of the same color." Subaru then completed that part of the tutorial, doing damage to the monster and eliminating it. "Awesome! You just scored a huge combo! Whenever Orbs of a certain color disappear, monsters of that color will attack." Subaru watched as the combos build up, ending at a 9 combo attack. "So, the more combos that I do, the more damage I can do. This is a good test of my skills."

The screen then moved on into the next battle. "Defeat the enemy in order to advance! Fight your way further into the dungeon!" With Subaru being a NEET, his gaming skills were excellent, in the S tier. He rapidly improved in his combo maneuvering, finishing off the last battle with a 7 combo. Subaru ranked up. "Congratulations! You have reached a new rank! With each new rank that you reach, your max Stamina and max team cost will increase!" He then plowed straight through tutorial 5, learning about adding monsters to his team, fusing monsters to level them up, mass attacks, and active stills. By now, Subaru had just one shotted the black dragon. He now has 5 magic stones. "You can do lots of things with Magic Stones! You can use the Rare Egg Machine for example. Why don't you give it a try?" Subaru went to the Rare Egg Machine and found out that there was a Godfest in effect. Subaru was a little confused. "Theo, what is a godfest in Puzzle and Dragons?" Theo answered with passion, "The Godfest is the best time to roll in Puzzle and Dragons, with the best rates for the best monsters. I wish you luck. Hope that you get a diamond." Subaru looked back at his screen, and went to Rare Egg Machine and rolled it by pulling the dragon's hand. He gobbled on Subaru's magic stones, and out pops a diamond egg. Subaru noticed that his roll was a green monster of sorts that was animated. "Um Theo...I got Great Witch of the Solitary Peak, Zela." Theo was shocked. "You got Zela?! She is like one of the best rolls in Puzzle and Dragons that you can get right now. Keep that monster Subaru, and leave her as your leader. She can take you to very, very endgame. Endgame is where the dungeons get really difficult Subaru. When I mean difficult, I mean bosses and mini-bosses that can end your entire run if you make one tiny mistake. There are several mechanics that you have to get past in order to clear the dungeon. Trust me Subaru, you will game over quite a bit. Get used to it."

Subaru replied sheepishly. "I guess. Time for me to download even more gatcha games!" With that, Subaru went to the App Store and downloaded even more gatcha games. From Kings Raid, to SAO Memory Defrag, to Brave Frontier, to Monster Strike, and even Girls Frontline. Tiffania watched on as Subaru kept putting games on his iPhone XR. "Subaru-san is clearly enjoying the smartphone. And he is already hooked into it. Perhaps you want to give Emilia a taste of this as well?" Subaru turned to Tiffania. "Emilia-tan would like to have something like this. I think this would make her life less boring. Plus, she can take talk to me anytime with text messaging and FaceTime. This smartphone is going to change our camp forever, and I want your guys help in integrating it." Bidashal also had the same idea as well. "I'll be glad to help, all of us would be glad to help you with integrating technology to Emilia's camp. Two years ago, we didn't even have the technology in Tristain, Subaru-san. Saito though changed the way that we lived our lives, forever. Computers, smartphones, electricity, and motorcycles have come to be the norm in our place now. I would like for that to be the same here as well. At the same time, the elven community have been taking stringent measures to improve our arsenal. During the last year, we have invented stuff with the help from Louise, Saito's wife that is currently in Tristain. These weapons are extremely powerful, and basically crush a lot of the stuff that is in this world right now. Based on what I have seen in the show so far, our magic is superior to this world's magic."

 _ **Weapons of mass destruction**_

Subaru was taken aback. "If...if that's the case, what types of weapons did you really make?" Bidashal answered. "There are two types of weapons that we made. The first one is called Void Guns, a weapon that is based on a weapon from Earth. The other one is called Void Artillery." To Subaru, these weapons sound like they could take everything out quickly. Bidashal cleared his throat, noticing that Subaru looked confused. "Void guns are comprised of assault rifles, sub-machine guns, marksman rifles, pistols, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers. These are different from your normal guns. They use a special type of ammo called Soul Liquidator bullets. Unlike real bullets, when this bullet hits it's target, it kills it instantly. It also kills their soul off for good." Subaru was in a loss for words. "Killing off the soul as well?! Do you have any idea how dangerous a weapon like this is? Landing even a single shot on a person will kill them off." Bidashal shook his head. "That's why all of a weapons have a double safety switch in place. It is also the reason why you should have it, Subaru. Didn't you want to protect Emilia? You made a promise to protect her. Now keep that promise with these weapons. I won't give them to you right now. When the time comes, then you can have them." Subaru didn't say anything, but he nodded in acceptance. Bidashal continued with explaining the Void Artillery. "The Void Artillery is a SAM that will completely wipe out anything that gets in the blast radius. That means magical barriers would do jack squat. It operates by pressing a button and letting the missiles do it's thing. Also, the missiles are guided as well by a computer. It can go to a target that is designated by the user."

Subaru wasn't sure about this. "You made a weapon of mass destruction? With this, the Witch Cult will stand absolutely no chance. Neither will the White Whale, if what you are saying is true. Are you really saying that we should use this in the White Whale battle tomorrow?! How would they react to this? I bet that everyone would react in terror at the sheer power of this!" Theo replied to Subaru. "We are going to use this to make sure it negates any attacks against it while letting us attack from the inside." Tiffania, the half-elf, added to this as well. "This means that you and Crusch's army will be protected, Subaru-san. We want to completely annihilate them. I'm sure you want the same thing as well." Subaru stood up from his chair to stretch his legs. He then walked over to one of the windows in the room and peeked a view at Lugnica's capital. The moon was high on that instant. "Yeah, I want that as well. To give Emilia-tan a place where she can laugh with me. That's all I want." Bidashal nodded at Subaru's statement. "Subaru, tomorrow, we will unleash this firepower at the White Whale. Also, what ever you do, do not show yourself being a half-elf spirit arts user like Emilia until the White Whale battle. In other words, stay with this disguise until we fight the White Whale. Understood Subaru? You might not want to show that to the others before the battle." Subaru turned his back so that he can face Bidashal. "Of course. I'll take off this disguise in my guest room when no one is looking. I've also got Emilia's cloak that she left with me, so I'll put that in my Elven Storage."

Tiffania gave out a yawn. "I think it's time for us to go to our separate guest rooms that Crusch assigned for us. Let's get ready for the White Whale battle tomorrow." Bidashal stood up as well to leave. "You're right Tiffania. We are done for tonight, so lets get that well needed sleep for the fight ahead of us. And Subaru, no Rule 34 on your phone of Emilia!" Subaru's face turned extremely red as a result of Bidashal teasing him. This earned Bidashal a punch from his niece Luctiana. "Bidashal! Cut back on the teasing!" Meanwhile, Theo laughed at the scene that was unfolding right in front of him. _"No matter if you are a human or a half-elf, you stay the same as a person. Once a Subaru, always a Subaru. Love, it's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru. Oh for goodness sake, why did I think about that car commercial in the first place?!"  
_ Subaru replied sheepishly to Bidashal. "Trust me, I'm not that perverted enough to have lewd photos of Emilia. I won't do that." Theo, wanted to tease Subaru even more, nudged him on. "Are you sure about that? Surely, maybe you have been thinking about...getting busy with my daughter." At that comment, Subaru pulled the Dell G7 into his elven storage, his phone into his pocket, his elven storage in the other pocket and ran out of the room to head straight towards the guest bed room that was assigned for him. He slammed the door behind him extremely hard. At first, there was no reaction. Then, Tiffania began giggling. Luctiana soon followed after. The next moment, the room turned into full blown laughter that was so loud that Rem noticed it from downstairs. "Subaru-kun, did you do something again?" She was getting ready for bed as well. At last, Subaru reached his guest bed room. His heart was beating rapidly, and his face was red hot from embarrassment. _"These elves are the most teasing people that I ever come across. They better not tell Emilia-tan about what they have just said. She'll be embarrassed just as much as I am."  
_

 ** _Going to bed_**

Subaru let out a sigh as he put the elven storage on one of the night stands. He then took out his disguise watch that Theo gave him, which caused Subaru to revert back to his half-elf form that was now his true form. His silver hair that went down to his shoulders lit up in the moonlight, with his eyes that was an azure blue color. His attire was like Saito's, which Subaru then took it off and put it in a corner. His skin was pale like Emilia's, and his ears were like Emilia's as well, taking the form of a half-elven ears. He then got up to go use the shower, which washed away his pain and suffering that he has endured ever since he came to Lugnica. Subaru also reflected on what had just happened to him today. _"Today, this was the very last day for me being human. Not only am I starting for zero, I am also now a half-elf from this day on. I am a Spirit Arts user like Emilia-tan as well. Discrimination towards me will probably be all over the place due to Satella. Honestly, I don't give a damn about that. If Satella was an ogre, everyone would look down on ogres. Theo also said that I have the best Shadow magic in Lugnica, as well as the second best water magic, behind Ferris. For some reason, even though I have these amazing powers, I don't want to reveal them yet. Maybe it's because I haven't had much experience, or maybe it is because I am afraid of hurting others with my powers going out of control. Not only that, I also got several major technological upgrades as well. The first of which is my iPhone XR, my first smartphone, and I am already hooked on the damn thing. Emilia-tan would be hooked as well. The second was a Dell G7, which was a gaming laptop with a GeForce GTX 1060. I haven't booted it up yet, but I'm looking forward to using it soon. Finally, that elven storage will come in handy for storing alot of things."_ Over the next 45 minutes, Subaru went to brush his teeth and get into sleeping attire that Ferris set up for him while he was watching the people get ready for the White Whale battle. Before going to bed, Subaru checked his iPhone XR to see what was going on in Japan. He saw that Sword Art Online was airing its third season right now, which made him curious. He then put the iPhone XR on silent and placed it in the night stand. "I...I will save you Emilia. No matter what it takes. I'm sorry for breaking your promise. I was being reckless and letting my emotions get the best of me. Please...forgive me. This...this is to atone for my mistakes!" With that, Subaru closed his eyes and went to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, with bigger revelations to come for the army that Crusch is leading. A terrifying show case of technological might, and the biggest shocker of any event that would answer that question that the people had on the fourth day of Subaru's stay at Crusch's mansion: 'What was the reason for that beam of light the the sky in Lugnica's capital that left the entire city in chaos for several minutes before normal routine resumed for the day'?


	6. Leaving for Flugel Tree and Resting Up

**_In Subaru's dream_**  
 _Subaru looked around, trying to find out where he was. He look at himself. Fortunately, he was still a half-elf. As he looked, the scene around him was very familiar. "You have got to be kidding me. I'm back at the Royal Selection?! What the hell is going on here? Wait a minute." As he looked around the place, there was five candidates, including Emilia-tan. Apparently, Subaru then realized that he was rewatching the events that occurred in the capital. The half-elf named Subaru watched as his human past self made a embarrassment out of himself, and Emilia. "I'm Emilia-sama's best knight!" All that the Subaru of now can do is face palmed at his talk. "I...I guess I did that because I thought I was the protagonist of this place. I'm no iseaki protagonist. Never was...never will be. I'm just a former student from Japan, a world that is heavily based on technology and science. But, I wouldn't stand what that guy was saying. I bet that it could have been any race that was the Witch of Envy. The people would all fear that race. In Japan, that discriminatory action will not be tolerated at all." The scene then fated from view. At the next moment, Subaru was on one side of the arena, with the Knights of Lugnica in the other. In the arena, Subaru saw Julius, and his past-human self, both holding wooden swords. A duel was about to begin. Subaru recalled this event. "This was when I had that pointless fight with Julius. He was never a bad person in the first place. I was the one making him an enemy when he wasen't even one in the first place. For crying out loud, Zero no Tsukaima had that moment when Saito was going to kiss Henrietta. That was the same thing that Julius was trying to do." As the half-elf Subaru said that, he watched as his past self tried to make the first move, only to get knocked back by Julius. From there, he received a massive beat down, to the point where Subaru started to cough out blood. The beatdown continued, and Emilia running to stop the fight. She then shouted his name. "Subaru!" This caused Julius to look at Emilia. His past self saw an opportunity arise, and he was about to unleash Shamac. Emilia wanted Subaru to stop. "Don't, Subaru!" But his past self did it anyway, and Julius was engulfed by the shadow magic. The current half-elf named Subaru Natsuki watched as Julius swept aside his magic like it was nothing. He then went in for the final blow. "You are irredeemably powerless." Emilia's face turned to a gasp. Julius then continued on. "You're not worthy to stand at her side." His past self collapsed to the ground, with Emilia shouting: "Subaru!" The scene then faded into a white light, which then signified the end of his dream.  
_

Subaru woke up from this dream with a gasp, his heart rate high. By now, it must have been morning, since the sun rays were piercing the windows. _"Just a dream. I never want to go back to being a human ever again. Being a half-elf has it's perks. I need to stop pretending to be who I'm not and be myself."_ With that, Subaru gave a yawn and rubbed his eyes. He then turned to his iPhone XR to check out if anything was happening in Japan, playing some Puzzle and Dragons as well to catch up with the daily free stones that he got. Subaru at the time was still in his sleeping clothes, and during this moment, Edan popped out from his shirt. "Good morning Suba! I hope you had a good night sleep. Were you dreaming about your beloved Emilia-tan?" This make Subaru give Edan a snarl. "Be quiet Edan! You're gonna make someone hear that!" The fox spirit gave a giggle. He then noticed that Subaru was holding a Metia of sorts. "Suba, isn't that one of the Metia from your place?" Subaru gave a nod. "Yes, this is called the iPhone XR. It acts in the same way as what Emilia-tan calls a Conference Mirror. It's a far...far more advanced version of the Metia that Emilia-tan reference to me. This here can make calls across any distance. Not only that, there are applications that can do a variety of purposes. From everyday use, to watching videos, to playing games, the Metia right here is all of those. I can play games at any time I want. I swore to myself to never be a NEET again, but that doesn't mean I can abandon my hobbies. In fact, I am going to embrace them." Edan simply nodded at Subaru's statement. "That would be for the best Suba, trying to pretend what you are not is going to be bad in the long run." Subaru got up and stretched his legs. Edan went back into Subaru's silver hair once again. By now, Crusch's army has been preparing well into the night, unaware of what firepower they are going to witness at the White Whale battle. After looking at the news in Japan for a moment, regarding stuff such as VR development, Subaru put his iPhone XR back down in the table and went to take a shower. As the warm water pounded on him, he collected his thoughts.

 _"Today is the big day I guess. The day of the White Whale! Emilia-tan is at the mansion, unaware of the Witch Cult that is on the move against her. Back then, I swore to myself that I will protect her! I will keep that promise that I made to myself, and keep it. There is one more thing that I'm unsure of. I haven't tried communicating with the lesser spirits yet. Maybe I should try doing the same thing as Emilia-tan. I'll give her a future where she can smile with me, and introducing technology to her as well. We'll win these battles with zero casualties!"_ Once Subaru was done taking a short shower, he got off of his sleep clothes and dressed up in the knight-like clothes that Saito wore to Louie's wedding. The Pyroxene Crystal that was located at his upper chest was blue, indicating that he was at full strength. After all, he hasen't used any of his powers ever since he was give the permanent change in species by Theo. As Subaru was getting his clothes on, someone knocked at the door. Subaru turned to the door. "Who's at my door right now? I'm kinda busy getting dressed up right now!" A female voice replied. It was Rem. "Subaru-kun. Ferris wants to see you. It's in regards to the land creature that you will be riding." Subaru replied. "Give me a few minutes to gather my stuff. In the mean time, can you wait for me?" Rem sat outside while Subaru was getting dressed. First, Subaru put in his disguise watch, and turned it clockwise, causing him to return back to his human form. The one with the tracksuit that he wore before coming to Lugnica. With that, Subaru took the iPhone XR and put it in his right pocket. He then grabbed the Elven storage and put that in his left pocket. Once he was ready, Subaru opened the door, to where Rem was waiting. He put his hand on Rem's hair and rubbed her hair. She blushed. "Well, let's get going then, Rem. Today is the big day for all of us. For Emilia-tan too." Rem, still embarrassed, only manage a one word reply. "Subaru-kun..."

Meanwhile, the elves from Zero Tsukaima also began to get ready for the battle as well. Tiffania got ready by making sure her wand was still in her possession. Bidashal and Luctiana materialized multiple Void weapons in their inventory to prep for the battle. Theo also got ready as well, double checking his elven storage to make sure that there were multiple weapons in place. Once all of that was done, they took a shower and dressed up. Theo was thinking about a lot of things. Stuff such as the Witch Cult, the White Whale, and most of all, his daughter who was at Roswaal's mansion. The thought of this made Theo on the brink of tears, but he had to keep himself together, for his and her sake. He hasn't seen his daughter for 100 years now, ever since he had to go somewhere for business reasons. Now, he was going to see her in person. _"Does she look like what she's seen on TV? After all, if that is the case, she has grown to a young, beautiful girl."_ In that same room, Theo put on his mask disguise once again so that no one suspects that he is Emilia's father. Right now, the only one that knows who his secret is Subaru, and the Zero no Tsukaima crew. All four of them met at a corridor and watched around Crusch's mansion. Tiffania looked outside. "It seems that they are still getting ready for the White Whale battle, even into the morning, Luctiana-san." Luctiana shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like they have any other choice, Tiffania. When going on a battle like this, the uttermost preparation needs to be taken in order to ensure that they are ready." Just as they said that, they saw Subaru and Rem walking to the outside of the mansion. Tiffania waved her hand at him. "Subaru-san!" Subaru and Rem turned, while Subaru gave a wave back at Tiffania. "Ferris just summoned me, so I have some things to attend to. Where are you guys going?" Bidashal stepped in, "Subaru, Crusch instructed all of us to wait along the the other solders. We'll meet in the main room of the mansion to make final preparations for the subjugation of the White Whale." The Zero No Tsukaima crew left while Subaru gave a nod. Both Subaru and Rem made their way outside, passing by multiple soldiers and merchants who were getting supplies ready. Eventually, Subaru saw multiple land dragons, and Ferris standing there, waiting for Subaru. Ferris cat ears perked up and down. "Subaru-kyun! Did you get your sleep." Subaru walked to where Ferris was. "So these here, what are they for." Ferris nudged him. "Nyow don't know? These are land dragons used for transportation!" Subaru turned to look at them. "I'm supposed to pick one of these?" That caused Ferris to pout. "What is it nyow? You don't like them?" Subaru simply replied. "It's not that! I'm glad you're letting me borrow one, but I have no idea what makes one good! Do I look like veteran who's studied nothing but land dragons for decades or some-" That is when one of the land dragons caught Subaru's eye. He walked to it. "Are you that one from..." Subaru recalled to when that same land dragon was at Roswaal's mansion, where Wilhelm was vising from the capital, along with Ferris. Subaru reached his hand out to the land dragon, and it seemed to take a liking to Subaru. Subaru gave a smile. "Looks like this is the one." Rem was right beside Ferris. "I am surprised. That land dragon is a breed known for its extreme pride." Subaru wanted this one. "Ferris, I'll take this one. It's love at first sight! Sure thing. But don't say, 'Love at first sight'. You're making Rem-chan all pouty!" Rem denies it. "I'm not pouty! I'll be notice to it! I can do it!" Rem and the land dragon looked at each other. Rem was jealous, of course. She didn't want this land dragon to take Subaru away.

Ferris want to take Subaru to the side for a minute, as he noticed that something was different about Subaru. Rem as standing besides Subaru. "Subaru-kyun, I didn't say anything about this, but I want to say something. Your eyes, they are a completely different color compared to when we first took you to this mansion. It's nyow possible. Also, I cheeked your mana gate, and it is completely repaired. Did you do something with Rem that you nyan should have been doing?" Subaru turned red in embarrassment, as did Rem as well. Subaru adamantly denied it. "It's not like that!" Ferris walked away, laughing like crazy. Subaru gave a sigh. "Ferris. He's interesting for sure. Why don't we meet Tiffania, Theo, and others in the main part of the mansion?" Rem nodded and they both made their way to the main room. There was soldiers talking, along with Tiffania, Theo, Luctiana, and Bidashal. Subaru gave a wave to Tiffania, to which they all waved their hands back. Subaru joined his newly made friends. "So, this is the main room here. It's quite big." Bidashal agreed. "Perfectly suited for a mansion I guess." Tiffania was on her phone, looking at Princess Connect, as she was a fan of that game, as well as Puzzle and Dragons. Both Rem and Subaru looked at Tiffania. Luctiana shook her head. "That's Tiffania for you. That is what phones will do to you once you get it." Just then, someone put a hand on his head, causing Subaru to be surprised. "Huh!? What the...!" It turned out to be a wolf-human. "My lady was tellin' me about you. You're the star of this little show, aren't ya?" Subaru looked at his emblem. "That logo...and a Kararagi accent from a beastman...Then, are you with Anastasia?" The wolf human crouched down. "What, you knew? I'm Richardo, head of her mercenary team." Richardo then turned to Rem. "Nice to meet you, too, lil' lady!" Rem bowed in respect. He had a grin on his face. "Keep it down! Also, you're huge! You'll snap my neck!" Luctiana couldn't resist it. "That's what she said." This caused a face palm from Subaru, Tiffania, Theo, and Bidashal. Once again, Bidashal nudged his niece. "Luctiana! Will you stop with the dirty jokes?!" Richardo spotted someone. "Hey! My lady!" He then pushed Subaru out of the way. "Whoa, hey!" Subaru rubbed his back. "Ow..." Crusch came behind from Subaru. "So that is the pride of Anastasia Hoshin, the Iron Fang. I see. They all look quite strong. Did you rest well last night?" Subaru replied. "I nearly died a second ago...Oh, so I guess you're fighting too?" Crusch replied to Subaru's question. "You think I am capable of sitting in a chair, waiting for good news? If anything, I'm much more surprised you are participating. Can you fight?" Subaru replied with the truth. "Nope, I can't. To be more specific, I haven't been had actual combat fighting experience. But even if I can't fight, I think this human will prove pretty useful against the White Whale." Crusch wanted to know about how Subaru will useful. "I must ask...On what grounds?" Subaru replied. "I'm not all that happy about it myself, but there's something about me that attracts witchfiends."

 _ **Arrival of the others**_

Crusch was confused. "What?" Rem stepped in to clarify. "It's true. Thanks to that attribute, Subaru-kun has previously saved my life." Subaru turned to Crusch. "I'll be using that attribute to lure the Whale White right into a trap. Me and my elven friends were discussing on regards to the White Whale battle. We'll be using extremely powerful weapons that can easily annihilate anything in it's path. What you may call it is a 'Metia' of mass destruction. At the same time, you guys will be on the attack, weakening it's durability. That's the tactic I'd recommend, anyway." Crusch was trying to process what Subaru said. "A Metia of...mass destruction?" Crusch was trying to find out if Subaru was lying, but she gave a sigh. "Shockingly, I sense no lies in that statement. I never thought I would doubt my divine protection as often as I have in the past day." Both Subaru and Rem were smiling. The doors then opened up, causing Crusch, Ferris, and Rem to turn to the source of the noise. More soldiers came in. Crusch commented on their entrance. "They're here." They all marched and put their fists on their chests. "Crusch-sama, we have arrived. Is this boy..." Crusch replied. "Yes, he is." The guy with the green-blue like hair put his two arms on Subaru's shoulders. "Thank you, young man." Subaru was caught off guard. "Huh?" The middle aged man continued, "Thanks to you, our wish may come true. We could not be happier. Thank you." Subaru nodded. He then took his hands off and bowed to Crusch. He then continued forward with the rest of the soldiers. Rem watched them march ahead. "It seems all of them have a history with the White Whale." Subaru looked at Crusch. "Then, they're like Wilhelm-san?" Crusch watched them as well. "Yes, many are men who have retired from the front lines. They have joined our subjugation force at Wilhelm's invitation. Their morale and experience is comparable to those of the capital's active knights." Ferris then came over to Crusch. "Crusch-sama, it's time." Crusch turned to Ferris. "Right." Subaru watched as they made their way to the center of the room. Crusch was at the middle, Ferris to the left, and Wilhelm to the right. Subaru and Rem joined Tiffania, Theo, Bidashal, and Luctiana. Crusch began her speech. "Four hundred years. Since the White Whale, created by the Witch of Envy, made the world its hunting ground, trampling the weak and dominating the land as if it were its owner, four hundred years have passed. Countless lives have been lost in that time. Given its fog's scrupulous nature, as well, the number of graves we cannot even inscribe with names will only rise. But those days of sitting idle end today! Today, those of us here will end it! We shall strike down the White Whale, and stop further tragedy! We shall give sorrow, which was never allowed to come to pass, a chance to shred overdue tears! We move out!" Crusch slammed her sword on the ground. "Our destination is Flugel's Tree, on the Lifaus Highway. Tonight, we shall slay the White Whale with out own hands!" She then pointed her sword, which caused everyone to roar in agreement. Subaru turned to Tiffania and the others. "We're heading out! Be sure not to forget you smartphones! You'll gonna need it for the trip ahead!"

Hours later, Subaru was riding on one of the land dragons, one named Patrasche. Subaru was ridding on it with Rem in front of him. The battle was drawing ever closer, and Subaru knew how dangerous this battle will become. To the right, there was two of Anastasia mercenary, with orange hair. "I'm Mimi! Glad to know ya!" The other on introduced himself. "My name's Hetaro. Nice to meet you." Subaru greeted them too. "Yep, nice to meet you. Anyway, not that I doubted it, but...You really are the second-in-command, huh?" Mimi was taken aback. "Huh? Have we met somewhere before? Hmm...I totally can't remember at all!" Hectaro looked at his sister. "C-Come on, Sis, you have to sit up properly." Mimi couldn't. "Totally can't..." Subaru reassured the two. "Don't worry about it. Just talking to myself. I'n Natsuki Subaru. So you two are brother and sister, huh?" Hectaro replied. "Yes, my big sister and I will do our-" Mimi interrupted Hectaro. "When Mimi and Hetaro are together, we're the strongest! And the captain's also here, so we're the super strongest! Strongest! Strongest! Super strongest!" At this point, Hetaro is trying to keep his sister under control. "Uh, my sister and the captain tend to be a little rash, so I usually give the orders." Subaru understood. "I see...Must be rough..." That was when a familiar voice came from the left. "What's the matter, bro? Ya look awful gloomy!" It was Richardo riding on his own animal. "Whose fault is that" Subaru said as he spotted Richardo. "A captain shouldn't make trouble for his men." Richardo noted his land dragon. "Hey, that's a nice land dragon ya got there." Subaru raised his arm. "Hey! Is it? I borrowed this one because it seemed to like me, but...Come to think of it, the things you guys ride look kinda bizarre." Richardo clarified. "They're called rigers. Buy ya don't see 'em too often in these parts. They ain't as strong as land dragons, but they're much more agile. If it comes to a brawl against the Whale, that's where they really shine, so watch close. Behind them, multiple people were pulling the cargo with rigers. "Shouldn't you have had land dragons pull the cargo, then?" Richardo kept talking. "We've gotta manage our luggage on our own. If ya think the White Whale's our only enemy, you'll get the rug pulled out from under ya." That's when Subaru recalled Sloth while Richardo was talking. "Ain't no guarantee we won't run into thieves on the road, after all." Subaru commented on that remark. "If anyone's got the guts to take on a fully armed group like this, they wouldn't settle for being thieves." Richardo agreed. "Good point!" He then went ahead and greet the other people's nerves. "It looks like Ricardo-sama is trying to ease everyone's nerves. Subaru-kun?" Subaru was silent for a couple of seconds. "I thought I'd be prepared myself for this. You can tell the hero inside to awaken, but it really isn't as easy as it sounds." Rem gave a smile as they make their way towards the tree.

 _ **Rem gets a new smartphone**_

It was sunset now, and Subaru and Rem met up with the Zero no Tsukaima crew. Bidashal, Theo, Tiffania, and Luctiana met at the base of the tree. Tiffania rushed over to Subaru, giving him an accidental hug. This caused Rem to give a jealous glare at Tiffania, but it died down anyway. Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the White Whale. "Well, that was quite a long trip. We could really have used a motorcycle." Subaru was shocked. "You guys had motorcycles in your storage? Why didn't you tell me about that?" Luctiana was a little annoyed that Subaru didn't get it. "Why? Isn't it obvious? Driving our motorcycles here would have drawn all the attention to us. We really don't want that in the first place." Subaru gave a chuckle. "I guess you guys are right. I'll just pull out my iPhone XR right now and download more gatcha games. I'll have a look at the App Store." Rem was curious. She never seen a metia that lit up that bright before. "Subaru-kun, what is that thing?" Subaru turned to Rem to explain what that is. "It's future technlogy called a cellphone. To be more specific, it's called a smartphone. We all have this. Can you all show it?" Tiffania, Bidashal, Luctiana, and Theo showed their Samsung Note 9. "This metia we call a smartphone is common place where I came from. It's gotten to the point that everyone is using it. And now, I think it is time we are going to give you this metia for you to keep. It's gonna be yours. Tiffania, make a new smartphone for Rem." Tiffania nodded, and was about to get her Materializer out, but she was stopped at the very last moment. "We should probably head to the back of the Flugel Tree. This Materializer is seriously high grade Magitek stuff. It would be bad if everyone is curious about what we are operating." Luctiana agreed and stood up. "Bidashal is right. I'll be making my way to the backside of the tree, as no one is on the other side. You all should follow suit." Rem, Subaru, Tiffania, Theo all followed Luctiana to the back of the Flugel Tree. With no one else on the other side, Tiffania got the Materializer out of her elven storage. She unlocked the screen via Face-ID integrated into the storage. It uses the same technology as the iPhone X. "Let's see, where is the materalize function? Ah, found it!" Tiffania clicked on the button and a dialogue box popped up. It said the following: "What would you like to craft?" Tiffania typed out the following: "Smartphone."

The computer continued to prompt her. "Which smartphone?" Tiffania thought about it for a minute or so. Theo was looking at Tiffania. "Tiff, you better not give Rem a shitty 500 yen smartphone. She'll chew you off if you do." Tiffania gave out a little smirk. "Don't worry Theo, I'll give her something good. It'll be a metia that she'll cherish. I promise Rem, it's gonna be something good." Subaru talked to Bidashal in the mean time. "How do you think we should teach Rem on how to use the smartphone?" Bidashal scratched his head to think for a few seconds. "Here is my advice, Subaru. I suggest that you explain to her in the simplest possible terms. What I mean by 'simplest' is don't use geeky like terms that she'll won't understand. Stuff such as CPU, RAM, will get Rem lost really quick. So once Tiffania finishes materializing a smartphone, you should probably explain this stuff to her. She trusts you the most, so you will be her guide. Got it?" Subaru nodded in acceptance. This was going to be the first person to adopt the smartphone in Lugnica's history. The first person to receive a modern metia. The metia that can do anything. Rem, the first person in Lugnica to have a smartphone. Tiffania typed the following on the screen: "OnePlus 6T, 256 GB, 8GB RAM. Language: Lugnican". She hit the confirmation button, and another dialogue box appeared. "Request has been processed. Materializing object..." With that, a green glow began to illuminate from the device. An object began to materialize in Rem's hands, to which she looked in shock as a rectangular-white shaped box appeared in her two hands. The glow then fainted into the darkness again. There was that distinctive OnePlus logo on the cover of the box. Theo spotted the logo. "Nice choice with the smartphone, Tiffania. OnePlus is a pretty good smartphone company, making affordable flagships."

Rem analyzed the box, unable to figure out what to do with the box. She turned to Subaru. "Subaru-kun, what do I do with this box? Is there any way to get in this one?" Subaru looked at the box. "Rem, that top portion of the box can be removed with your hands. Try doing that so you can get a view of the Metia." Listening to Subaru's advice. Rem used her right hand to pull up at the top portion of the rectangular shaped box. To Rem's relief, Subaru's suggestion worked. Inside, there was the OnePlus 6T itself, which Rem took it with her left hand and looked at the device. It was unlike anything that she has seen before, the surface being so smooth, the materials being something that is crafted by the greatest mages in Lugnica's history. She then noticed that there was a case that underneath the phone. Rem looked at it, and realized that it was a custom case which had a picture of her in it. Rem was really happy to find that included in the box as well. Although she didn't know how to use a smartphone yet, she assumed that case was meant to be attached to the Metia. Rem was able to fit the case, and she took a second look at it. She was admiring the design of the Metia, as it was like those Conference Mirrors that she had seen Emilia used, but this one was far, far bigger. Rem was starting to wonder how to activate this thing. "Subaru-kun, how do you use this Metia?" Subaru gave Rem a simple reply. "This Metia called a smartphone is operated by your hand gestures and touches." Rem was bamboozled. She couldn't fathom a Metia like this being that easy to use. "Seriously? Subaru-kun, is that really all I have to know to be able to use this thing?" Subaru gave Rem a warm smile. "Yep! It's that simple. It isn't difficult to master. They made it so people that haven't used a smartphone before can operate this thing. Do you see those three buttons, one located on the left, and two located on the right?" Rem looked at her Metia, and sure enough, there was three buttons. Subaru kept explain the buttons to Rem. "The button on the left is called the Volume Slider. It determines how loud of a sound will the Metia input. On the right top side, this button is called the Alert Slider. Basically, you slide this button if you don't want to disturb the people around you. It also serves as a sound muter as well. Lastly, the bottom right button is the power button. This is what you will be pressing to turn on the Metia, and to lock the Metia when you are not using it? Sounds good Rem?" Rem was kinda lost, but Subaru made it somewhat easier to understand. "I see. Let me press on this 'power' button then." With that, Rem took her right hand and pressed on the power button. The OnePlus 6T booted on, with Rem looking at the Metia. Down in the bottom of the screen, it said: 'Powered by Android' in Lugnican. "Subaru-kun, this is amazing. I have never seen a Metia that lit up so brightly before. Subaru looked at the phone, which was in the Japanese language in his eyes. "Why isn't this in Lugnican?" Subaru said to Tiffania.

The half-elf replied. "This phone includes a transnational spell, so that Japanese and Lugnican are using the exact same characters. Basically, she sees Lugnican as Japanese." Subaru still couldn't believe it. "Amazing. They were able to get this far with magitek. Emilia-tan is surely gonna enjoy this for sure!" Meanwhile, the OnePlus 6T was at the 'Hi there' screen, with the language selector and the start button. Rem looked at the screen, unable to figure out what to do next. _"Subaru-kun said hand gestures and presses allow me to navigate this Metia. The language is in Lugnican though. And I see this 'Start' thing."_ Out of curiosity. Rem pressed the Start button. It took her to the next screen, transitioning into the Font screen. "Is this...magic in a Metia? I have never seen a metia this advanced before." Rem said in disbelief. There was two options, one was the Roboto, and the other was called OnePlus Slate (Recommended). Rem went with the OnePlus Slate and pressed 'Next'. She then got to the User Agreement. Since Rem didn't want to read the agreement, she clicked 'Agree' and then clicked 'Agree' once again to confirm the selection. The next screen was the User Experience Program screen. Rem felt that it was too much into her privacy, so she pressed 'No thanks'. Following that, the next screen was Push Notifications. Rem also pressed 'No thanks' on that one as well. She was then taken into the 'Copy Apps and Data' screen. Since she was using this Metia for the first time, she pressed 'Setup as New'. The OnePlus then scanned for updates, followed by a dialogue box to the Google login screen. Rem didn't have an account, so she went ahead and created one by following the steps instructed in the phone. It was so easy that she didn't need Subaru's help to get through the process. She logged in as 'remsubarukun' and was taken to Face Unlock dialogue box. "I can unlock this Metia just by using my face and looking at it?! This right here, I need to tell Ram about this." With that, Rem sets up the facial registration that will unlock the phone when Rem simply looks at it.

At the same time, Theo was looking as the sky continued to darken into the night. "Looks like Rem is getting used to that smartphone pretty quickly. Subaru-san, I have been having Emilia on my mind a lot. I've been wondering what she is doing, how she is feeling." Subaru looked at Theo. "Same here as well. Emilia-tan has been always on my mind. She left me at the capital so that I can get treated for my gate. Even then, she got mad at me for breaking her promise. I don't even know if I can forgive myself for that at all. Do you even have an idea on how important promises are to Spirit Arts user like Emilia?" Theo put his hand on Subaru's shoulder. "I know it can be hard to forgive yourself too. It has been really difficult for me as well to forgive myself for not being there for Emilia when she needed it the most." Subaru nodded in sympathy. "I can't abandon her. I will not abandon her. She deserves happiness too. She has been persecuted, look down upon, and discriminated, for simply being a half-elf. Despite all of this, she'll try to help anyone, without expecting anything in return. Even when she's mad at you, she'll still get the best healer in Lugnica to heal your exhausted mana gate. She has a pure heart, and beautiful silver hair that complements her purple blue eyes. That's why I feel in love with Emilia. That is type of daughter she is, Theo." Theo couldn't say a word. Subaru's words were penetrating to his core, and even he began to break. He let out a smile, while at the same time, a tear came out of his eye. Luctiana talked to Tiffania. "Have you told Subaru about the Void SAM weapons and how to use it?" Tiffania shook her head naively. "Sorry Luctiana, I haven't really told Subaru-san about that. Maybe I'll discuss with him after we have dinner tonight." At last, Rem also set up the fingerprint scanner on the OnePlus 6, which was something that a Metia in Lugnica had never done before. A fingerprint was unique to every person.

The phone also displayed Rem's face at that time, which caught her off guard. _"That's...that's me on the screen! This Metia can also capture a moment in time and freeze it as well. I've seen Subaru-kun's other Metia, but this one is on a whole another level."_ Luctiana decided to peak over at Rem's smartphone. "Looks like Rem finally got to the main screen of the One Plus 6." At the screen, there was the usual Android Pie layout, with the 'Never Settle' at the top left side of the screen and displaying the date, as well as time. To Rem, this was alien to her. A magical device that operated on human gesture and touch. She noticed the three buttons, located on the bottom of the screen. One was a triangle rotated 90 degrees to the left, one was a circle in the middle, and one was a square on the right. "Um...Theo, can you explain to me what the shapes on the Metia do?" Theo perked up and answered Rem in a quick fashion. "The triangle allows you to go back in the app. The circle button allows you to go back to the main screen. Finally, the square button allows you to close apps. Rem, apps are basically metia within a metia. They can do all kinds of things. To open an app, press the icon with your finger." With the curiosity getting the better of her, Rem opened Google Chrome. She went to the text bar at the top and typed: 'Japan'. She then pressed the arrow button, which started the search. "Subaru-kun, I want to know more about your place, so can you give me about an hour to research?" Subaru nodded. "Of course. That metia is all yours, so feel free to do what ever you want to it." Rem went on to research about Japan. _"Subaru-kun is a wonderful person."_

 ** _Subaru gets hooked into video games, again_**

Of course, the stars in the night sky began to make their appearance now. Subaru was a big fan of astronomy ever since he was a little kid, so this was a time for Subaru to look up at the stars. He was want for time to pass by, so he decided to catch on Girls Frontline. This was his first time playing the game, so he went through the ropes. "Ooooh. Waifu's and girls using guns?! I like it!" He played that for a minute before switching to the Alchemist Code. Apparently, this game is quite popular in Japan, so Subaru wanted to try it out. At the same time, Bidashal looked at Subaru. "I can tell, Subaru is hooked to his phone. I thought that this will happen." Subaru shrugged as a response to Bidashal comments. "What's the matter with that? This is who I am, a lover of manga and anime, and video games. Anyone can have a hobby in anything. That includes gaming." Tiffania nodded. She recalled back to the times when the Otaku and gaming culture entered Tristain. The massive surge in popularity meant that everyone was talking or sharing their experiences in a gaming session. Perhaps that same thing can happen here, to get the mind off the Royal Election for a brief moment in time. Subaru was making his way to the tutorial dungeon in the Alchemist Code. For his 5 star, he received Setsuna as a starting roll. "Logi and Dias? They seem to be brothers, wait...why the hell are they fighting each other. And the father of Logi is dead?!" Subaru kept going through how to use abilities, master abilities, and moving around. And then, just when it couldn't get worse, Subaru saw Dias and Logi going against each other for the killed, only for Agatha to get impaled from both side. "No! She is dead!" It then took Subaru to the Alchemist Code movie, which Subaru enjoyed, mostly due to the music that played during the intro. It then started the game. Chapter 1, episode 1, was where Logi and Dias were first knights in Envylia. _"So this is the story on how Logi and Dias came to fight each other? This should be an interesting sight to see."_

Subaru continued throughout the tutorial, eventually making his 500 gems. He also got a free 10x roll as well, to which he wanted RNG to be on his side. _"Come on, please RNG. For once, may the spirits be with me!"_ As the roll results came in, it turned red, making Subaru excited. It turned out that he got five reds out of the possible 11. All of them were S tiered light units. This cause Subaru to jump up and down in excitement. "You have got to be kidding me! And on the first roll in this game too!" Theo gave a chuckle. "Heh, seems like Subaru got lucky on the rolls. Congratulations Subaru, luck was really on your side. And if you must excuse me, I am downloading that game too." He made his way to the Google Play story and began to play as well. Tiffania and Luctiana was trying to figure out what to do, since the others were on their smartphones at the moment. Tiffania came with an idea. "Luctiana-san, why don't we play Fortnite duos? Are you feeling it today? I want to shred some more blood." Luctiana agreed, and Tiffania invited Luctiana into a lobby. They began to play. As Subaru was going through the missions in the Alchemist Code, he could here Luctiana and Tiffania cursing as they get killed by various things in Fortnite. From getting blasted in the face with a shotgun, to falling to death, the frustration is real. Subaru looked at Tiffania and gave her a small smile. _"I guess it doesn't matter if you are a human, a elf, a half-elf, or a beast. The thing known as 'salt' can get the most cool headed people and turn them into raging demons. Emilia-tan would like this competitive environment. Maybe not. At the same time, my human counterpart is still weak and pathetic as he ever was. Don't get me wrong, Japan is a beautiful place to live. I on the other hand I have made a grave mistake about what to do with my life. 17 years and playing video games all day like a NEET. Ugh. Why am I still thinking about this? Thinking about not being good enough for others, worrying about how others see me, specifically Emilia-tan? Staying in the past isn't going to improve my situation either."_

 ** _Dinner_**

By now, it was about 6:00 PM in the evening. The sun has completely set in the horizon now, and it was dark. The only thing that was providing light at this time is the fires from the carriages, and the light from the smartphones. Subaru's stomach began to grumble as he played on his phone. "Dammit, haven't ate at due to getting ready for the White Whale battle." He tried to fight his way through it, but eventually, he caved into the pressure. "Tiffania, can I use your Materialzier to make some food. I can't stand getting hungry for much longer!" Tiffania gave Subaru a little giggle as she handed him the Materializer. "Eat up. You are gonna need all of those nutrients, Subaru-san. I wonder what you are going to get for dinner this time." Subaru was handed Tiffania's Materializer and he went to open the dialogue box. At that same dialogue box, _"I really need something to eat at this moment."_ At that same time, Subaru decided to typed the following into the dialogue box. "Eel Sushi." The Materializer then placed a plate full of sushi right into Subaru's legs. There was 15 of them, complemented with wasabi sauce on the side. _"Wasabi sauce?! I haven't had that in such a long time, ever since I got summoned from Japan. Honestly, I really don't care about it now. I'm starving."_ Tiffania watched Subaru as he began to eat. He took the plastic fork that came with the plate, and took one of the eel sushi rolls and dipped it in the wasabi sauce. Then, Subaru placed it in his mouth. Unfortunately, that may have been a little to much wasabi. Subaru's mouth was on fire. "Ack! I forgot how spicy wasabi was back in my home. It's still good though. It's a taste of where I came from, a taste that I didn't get the chance to experience for quite some time now." Theo looked at Subaru as he kept on eating. "I must say, that food looks really good. That there is a staple food of Japan?" Subaru nodded. "That is correct, Theo. This here, you can find it everywhere in Japan. There are places in Japan called restaurants where they serve high end stuff that costs quite a lot of money. But it is usually well worth the price."

Theo meanwhile got his food ready and brought out his on Materializer to make his food. For tonight, Theo decided to get some udon noodles, a Japanese staple. Subaru noticed that Theo got this staple for dinner. "Theo, seems like you took a liking to udon noddles. Yeah, they are pretty good, specifically when you put a combination of meats and veggies in the dish." It was now 6:30 PM, and Rem had just finished researching about Japan. She amazed at how advanced Subaru's society was. However, the thing that stood out to Rem the most is that Subaru's place was Metia-based. There was no evidence that Subaru's place had magic, but what Subaru said about where he came from was correct. "Subaru-kun, you were right after all. Japan has stuff that I can't even begin to fathom. On top of that, this so called 'web' allows me to go from place to place in an instant. It's amazing what this Metia can do for me." Theo wanted Rem to keep in contact with Subaru. "Rem, you can use that to keep in contact with Subaru. Go to that icon that looks like a handle with two circles." Rem complied to Theo's request and closed out of Chrome. She then opened the phone app, where the contact list is empty. "Um...Theo-sama, where do I keep in contact with Subaru-kun?" Theo came over to Rem's side and guided her through the screen. "You see those numbers, listed from 0 to 9? Each person that has a smartphone like this has a 7 numbers that is unique to them. Subaru has his own 7 number combination. Put that on your screen, press 'call' and you will be able to keep in contact with Subaru. Hey Subaru, if you don't mind, can you show your number to Rem-sama?"

Subaru was in the middle of eating his 5th eel sushi roll. He hold up his finger to Theo, telling him to wait for a few minutes. After Subaru finished his 5th roll, he went to his iPhone XR and brought up his phone number to show it to Rem. As Rem looked at Subaru's iPhone XR, she saw the 7 digit combination. Theo pointed this number to Rem. "You see this now? Just go to the 'Contracts' and add Subaru as a new contact. When you press the contact, you will call him. Why don't you give it a shot?" Rem nodded and imported Subaru's phone number into her contacts list. She then called Subaru. Her phone began to make that distinctive ringing sound. A few seconds later, Subaru's iPhone XR began to ring as well. He picked up the phone, and Rem was listening. "Rem, can you hear me?" Rem realized she could keep in contact with Subaru in an instant, no matter where she was. "Subaru-kun, it's working! I will use this 'smartphone' to talk to you. I'm still amazed at the amount of craftsmanship into this Metia. For it being able to do so many things at once is just shocking." Luctiana joined in for a quick comment. "Well, they said that any technology advanced enough is indistinguishable from magic. I can see that in practice for sure." Theo put his hands together. "That's right. I would never wan't to go back to the quill pen ever again after using a smartphone. Would you say the same thing, Rem?" At first, Rem didn't respond, but eventually, she realized that this Metia can do all the things that she does in her everyday activities. "That's true. I have no reason to go back to using a quill pen. And look at these apps, how do I get more of these 'apps'?" Subaru went over to Rem's side, leaving 10 eel sushi rolls left. "Rem, go to the application called 'Play Store' to get more apps there."

Rem listened to Subaru's advice and went to the Google Play Store. What she saw there was completely out of her world. Apps for everything, I mean, metias that could be download for a whole variety of uses. The amount of options had Rem overwhelmed. "Subaru-kun, where do I start from here? There are options such as 'productively' and 'games'." Subaru eyes perked up when Rem said 'games'. "You want to go for the games, Rem. That is where all the fun is in a Metia like this." Rem gave Subaru a tiny giggle. "Whatever you say, Subaru-kun. What do I even put in the search bar anyway?" That question from Rem made Subaru want to give her the name of the game that Subaru had just got into recently. "Alchemist Code, Rem. Type that into the white search bar, and press download once you get to the app screen." Rem did exactly that, inputting the word: "Alchemist Code" and hitting search. It came up with a RPG game that was free. Rem clicked on the app, then proceeded to install. Using her new found knowledge, she closed out from Google Play and went to open the Alchemist Code app. Theo took note of Rem's ability to learn. "It has been around 2 hours since she got her new metia, and she is learning extremely fast. Was she like this Subaru?" Subaru turned his head to look at Theo, who was still masked at this point in time. "How would I know? Since her phone is in Lugnican, it should make the learning process much easier for Rem. She doesn't have to learn a new way to write her language, you know."

 ** _Subaru's first talk with the lesser spirits as a Spirit Arts User_**

Rem was apparently happy that she was able to play with her metia. "Subaru-kun, no matter how much you lie, I can see right through it. After all, I'm the only one right now that believes in you. But that might not be the right way to put it. Emilia-sama believes in you too. She may be mad at you for breaking your promise, but I think she'll be awaiting for you return to the mansion. After we deal with the Witch Cult." Subaru said nothing, but he went back to his meal to finish up. Another thirty minutes have passed now, and Subaru was finished with his meal. "Aren't you guys gonna start eating or something? It's getting late now, and it's about 7:30 PM. I've set for my phone to go off when the White Whale is about to arrive." Bidashal stood up to stretch himself. "That's right. I'll have to materialize a meal for Luctiana, Tiffania, Theo, Rem, and myself. I'll get to it right now." Bidashal went to his elven storage to grab his Materializer. Then, he materialized a big bowl of beef stew that appeared right next to him. Along with that, it also came with a huge portion of bread as well. The aroma emanation from the stew was so enticing that Rem put her OnePlus 6 in her maid pocket and walked over to where the stew was. "I'll have some. I'm getting peckish as well. Subaru-kun, would you like some as well?" Even though Subaru ate the eel sushi, he was still hungry. "I guess my appetite has grown a little bit. All right then, I'll have some of this soup." Theo got into the food as well. "I haven't eaten all day. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to have something in our bodies." Next, Tiffania the half-elf got into the dish as well. "Bidashal-san, you know that beef stew and bread is one of my favorites in Tristain? I can surely have some more right here!" Luctiana was next, and she scoot closer to the food. Bidashal materialize six disposable bowls, with one of each having a spoon. There was also a spatula in the soup as well. With that being said, everyone began to dig in and eat the stew with the bread. Subaru took a bite. There was an explosion of flavor in his mouth, which cause a smile to form on his face. _"This so good, I can eat this all day. Maybe I should make some beef stew for Emilia-tan. Even though I suck at cooking. But...there is something that I need to know right now. I know that Emilia-tan can communicate with lesser spirits. I should try doing the same as well to get more information about the Witch Cult."_ Theo at the moment was talking about the Witch Cult. "So, how are we going to go after Sloth? Are we going to wait for Julius and the backup convoy to arrive?" Subaru stood up after he took a couple of bites. "I have to find out about something, so I'm gonna communicate with the lesser spirits. This will be my first communication with them as a Spirit Arts user. Here goes nothing I guess." With that, Subaru turned away from the others and clasped his hands together.

"Lesser spirits, head to my call, for I am requesting for your assistance." As that happened, the elves from Zero No Tsukaima and Rem saw that Subaru began to glow, with orbs flowing around him, much like what Emilia does. These orbs that were flying around Subaru were lesser spirits. One of them started talking to him. _"Hey, rookie. So, your name is Subaru Natsuki. You are one of the newest Spirit Arts Users. I have heard a lot of things from Emilia. So, what can I help you with today? Your love life with Emilia-tan?"_ Subaru made his intention clear to the lesser spirit. _" Really? That's the first question you can come up with? About me and Emilia-tan?! Seriously, I would like to know about how many Witch Cult members are situated around Roswaal's Mansion. Can you give me the rough numbers?"_ One of the other lesser spirits jumped into the conversation. _"About 100 or so members. They have situated themselves in that cave in Roswaal's domain. An attack is extremely likely in the next day or so. You know for sure that they would attack when Roswaal isn't there. He would wipe the floor with all of them."_ Subaru, knowing enough information, concluded the conservation with the lesser spirits. _"Thank you for telling me this. We'll give them hell."_ The glow from Subaru fainted, along with the orbs around him dissipating. Subaru got back to where he was eating and sat back down. "Subaru-kun, what did the lesser spirits say about the Witch Cult?" Subaru crossed his legs and took a bite out of the bread, and complemented that with the beef stew. "Rem, they said that there is 100 members of the Witch Cult that are about to attack Emilia-tan's location. They are hiding in a cave right now." Tiffania could believe how many wicked people were willing to attack Emilia's domain, going after a half-elf like her. "100 members? We need to terminate all of them ASAP!" Luctiana was curious about the timing of their assault. "Assuming that we finish the White Whale earlier, we should be able to do a night attack.' Theo agreed. "That's right. If we do a night attack, while they are resting, they will be completely taken by surprise. Then, they won't be ab..." Bidashal raised his hand to interrupt Theo. "That won't be needed. All we have to do is launch a volley of void missiles into that cave, and they would be done for. They would be all dead before they even realize what is going on. Anything to add to this Subaru-kun?"

Subaru shook his head. "No, not really. That sounds like a good plan. A night ambush to one shot and kill all of the members in one volley, including Sloth. I feel bad for them, they won't be able to see their deaths coming. Not really. They will pay a huge price for trying to harm my Emilia-tan! Rem, sounds like a good plan to you?" She simply nodded in agreement. The six of them got to eating and finishing their beef stew and bread. By the time they were finished, it was now around 8:30 PM. Bidashal tapped his feet, as he was sightly anxious. Questions such as: How well will void weapons work against this White Whale, and how effective it will be? These questions are always on the mind of Bidashal, who oversaw the development of these weapons back in Tristain. "We are going to start deploying Void SAMs around the Flugel Tree at 10:00 PM, two hours before the Whale Attack. At that same time, I'll be teaching you how to use it, Subaru-kun. Theo will deploy the elven barrier around 10:30 PM, which will allow us to attack from the inside of the shield without getting attacked. Tiffania, Theo, Luctiana, Bidashal, and me will be operating the SAMs. Subaru, you are in charge directing attack orders." Subaru couldn't fathom that he could give orders. "But I'm just a half-elf that looks 17 years old. A former Otaku NEET, how in the hell do you ex..." Bidashal shook Subaru. "That's an order! You wanted to save Emilia-tan, didn't you!? Now, stand tall, don't look down, and embrace being an Otaku. Be yourself Subaru. You are not your father, so try to be the best son that you can be to him, Subaru-kun." Tears came out from Subaru eyes, shaken by the harsh truth that Bidashal spitted out. "I'll...try...my...very b...best. For everyone...for the friends that I have made. And...for Emilia-tan...for all the promises...that...I couldn't...keep." Subaru broke down into tears, unable to stop the crying that came from him. He comforted by Rem and Tiffania, who was worried about his mental state. This was not the time for him to have a breakdown. But he couldn't hold in any longer. After all, he was from modern Japan, with no suffering.

At the same time, Theo went out to talk with Bidashal, face to face. "Do you think Subaru is all right? He looks like he almost no self-esteem whatsoever. He keeps on putting himself down." Bidashal looked at Subaru, who had his face buried in his legs. He turned back to Theo. "Give the kid a break, he has been through shit that a normal 17 year old would never go through. Playing video games in his room doesn't prepare for suffering, or pain, or PTSD. I mean, he was just at the convenience store, picking up some ramen and potato chips for a late night snack run. Nothing more than that." Theo looked at Subaru. "He has suffered so many times already, with numerous deaths. I hope he catches a break someday. He deserves it." At the same time, Ferris was preparing for the battle against the White Whale. He noticed that Subaru went behind the Flugel tree with his elven friends for hours now. He was about to walk to the back, but Crusch stopped him. "Ferris. Let Subaru have his privacy. It is rude to intrude upon him, such as now. When he's ready, he'll come back to this side with his face." Ferris pouted. "Nyow?! But I want to have small talk with Subaru-kyun!" After about 5 minutes, Subaru stopped crying. Thanks to Rem and Tiffania, he regained composure. They assured him that he was a good person, that he has a kind heart. This warmed him even further. It was about 9:00 PM now, three hours before the scheduled White Whale battle. Subaru went to his iPhone XR and found an app that was called: 'Mana Levels'. _"What in the world is this app doing here? I have to check this thing out."_ Subaru opened the app, and it showed that the Mana levels were extremely high, meaning that Subaru can make full use of it as a Spirit Arts user. _"That's good. I said to myself I would not use magic, but I have no choice in this upcoming battle. Seems like I have to go all out in fighting against the White Whale. Althought I swore not to use it carelessly, I have no choice here."_

 ** _Resting_**

Subaru went back to the iPhone XR to rest a little bit before setting up the weapons and defenses that Bidashal mentioned. He needs his mind to be at ease. The first thing he did as usual was to check on Girls Frontline. At this time, one of the T-Dolls that Subaru produced was completed. He collected it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a two star. _"Kuso! A two star T-Doll?! Come on RNG. Go home. You're drunk."_ Theo on the other hand simply stared at the night sky, and at the moon. "It seems that tonight will be last night that we will see this moon with ease." Tiffania was doing the same thing. The stars that popped up and night and the full moon was a beautiful sight to her. This was also the time where she played on the harp, while she was at Henrietta's castle. "The battle is getting closer. I am a little nervous about it." Bidashal nodded. "I feel the same as well, but we must fight, Tiffania. This creature has been causing a mess, and needs to be dealt with immediately." Subaru looked up, hearing Bidashal talking with Tiffania. "That's right. We must defeat the White Whale. So that anyone who has died to the Whale can be avenged. Wilhelm, who had his beloved wife taken away from him like that. Today, we are all fighting for the people that have fallen against the White Whale. Are you guys ready?!" All of them cheered, including Rem. They were almost ready to take on the Whale, along with Crusch's army.

Theo looked at the other campers on the other side. They were also getting ready as well. The power of the void was about to be unleashed. The elves from Zero no Tsukaima, Subaru, and Rem were all nervous for the upcoming battle. However, they didn't realize that void power was so powerful that it's sheer power would do something to the White Whale that will cause everyone to be shocked. It was a few hours away before the power of Magitek was to be revealed to the people of Crusch's army. Magitek which made weapons from the Re:Zero world look like utter firecrackers. Magic from Re:Zero that doesn't even come close to void armory.


	7. A Showing of Magitek Might

_**A few minutes before 10:00 PM.**_

Subaru at this time was looking through his iPhone XR, trying to calm himself. They were only two hours away before the White Whale battle. Subaru in the meantime setted up a ringtone to go off when the White Whale is expected to appear. This ringtone that Subaru was going to use is the main theme song for 'In Another World With My Smartphone'. _"Let's hope no one cringes at this music selection."_ Subaru thought. Just then, Bidashal gave Subaru a nudge. "Subaru-kun. Wilhelm is standing there, looking at the flowers. Maybe you should talk to him." Subaru turned to see what Bidashal was talking about. Sure enough, there was Wilhelm, just looking into the darkness of night. Subaru approached him, with Rem following to the right. "Um...Wilhelm-san? I heard a bit of the story from Ferris. That you've been seeking revenge on the Whale ever since it took your wife." Wilhelm spoke to Subaru. "Please forget that. It was all time idly spent in an old man's delusions." Rem spoke next. "You truly love your wife, do you not?" Wilhelm turned around. "Yes, I love my wife. More than anyone. And no matter how much time passes. My wife was a woman who loved to look at flowers. She never wished to wield a sword, but the sword loved her more than anyone. With no choice but to live for the sword, my wife accepted her fate. When I married her, I took it from her, forcing her to abandon the title of 'Sword Saint'. But the sword would not allow her to do that. Subaru-dono, I thank you again. In this battle, I can find answers in my own sword. And perhaps I shall be finally be able to visit my wife's grave. At last, I can go and see her." Subaru walked up to Wilhelm and put his fist out. "Let's work together to beat the hell out of that damn whale. No, we will annihilate it. I'll give it everything I've got too." Wilhelm fist pumped Subaru as well. Just then, Luctiana shouted at Subaru. "It's time! We are going to deploy the Void SAM's and the elven barrier around the entire army." Subaru nodded, and went over to the Zero no Tskaima group. At the same time Theo, Bidashal, Tiffania, and Luctiana began making their way towards the center of Crusch's army. Subaru and Rem followed. "Um, Tiffania-san, are you sure that we are going to do this?" Tiffania gave a small giggle. "Why not Subaru-san? We want zero casualties! I'll be getting the elven barrier online." Bidahsal was standing behind Tiffania, making sure that she materialized the barrier correctly.

Tiffania got out her Materializer and typed in 'Elven Void Barrier Mk 2'. This caused the device to prompt her the dimensions of the barrier. Tiffania defined them to enclose the entire army. She then went on and pressed 'Materialize'. In a matter of a few seconds, a light, transparent green barrier surrounded the entire army. Most of them gasped and started to panic, only for Subaru to shout. "Don't panic! My friend is putting something out that would protect us from the White Whale!" Crusch then clarfied Subaru's statement. "You heard Natsuki Subaru. Stay in the barrier, and do not venture out of the barrier." Tiffania gave the thumbs up to Bidashal. He looked around for Luctiana, who was going to be the one deploying the SAM's. "Luctiana! Deploy the SAM's in a hexagonal faction!" Luctiana got on to it right away, and went in her Materializer to put those weapons into this world. She entered the following, 'Void SAM 2.0'. She entered the quantity of SAM's, which was six of them. This then took her to next dialogue box, which gave Luctiana the option to configure the SAM's the way that she want's them to be. Once the layout was confirmed, she went on to materialize the SAM's. After that, the field began glowing in six spots. In a matter of seconds, 6 Void SAM's were on the battlefield, ready for the White Whale battle. They were white in color, with the missiles being a grayish white as well. It has the capacity to fire 12 void missiles at the same time. In addition, the ammo was unlimited. It could fire missiles relentlessly. On top of that, each Void SAM was equipped with an LCD touchscreen. With this, the user can define the target that the missiles would be traveling to.

This also means that these missiles can home in on the target that is specified. Several people who were getting ready for the White Whale battle were shocked at the sheer size of this weapon. "What in the heck is going on?! That thing looks like a dangerous weapon. How in the world are they managing to do this?" One person looked at it in disbelief. Subaru on the other hand, smiled, knowing that this weapon was based on military weapon in the real world. Bidashal walked to Subaru so what he can teach him the basics of using the Void SAM. "Subaru-kun, I'll be teaching you how to use this thing. Please follow me." Subaru nodded, leaving Rem behind with the other elves. Bidashal pointed to the screen. "This is the LCD screen. Here, you can enable the SAM, and designate the target. It's pretty basic. Watch me so that you can arm the SAM for the White Whale battle." With that, Subaru watched as Bidashal touched the screen. He swiped the screen, so that the SAM was enabled. This caused the SAM missiles to glow, which caused several gasps from people who were waiting for the battle. Ferris was looking at the thing that was going. "I don't know what Subaru-kyun is planning, but that thing looks dangerous. We better nyow never go near that thing." Crusch was watching as Subaru was standing by Bidashal. "We need everything that we can get, Ferris. Natsuki Subaru has turned our despair into hope. Today will be the day I use wind magic to finish the White Whale off! For all of those who have fallen against it."

 _ **Preparing for battle**_

Bidashal continued along the LCD screen, designating the target to be the White Whale. Subaru was wondering. "And how will these SAM missiles will be firing?" Bidashal looked to Subaru. "I've set it to barrage mode. This means that the missiles will fire relentlessly. The White Whale's destruction will follow rapidly, so keep that in mind. Theo, Tiffania, and Luctiana are currently doing the same thing that I am doing. Would you like to give it a try?" Subaru accepted with excitement. "Of course, Bidashal-san! I would like to give this a try! I haven't seen something like this in such a long time! In Japan, we have these things, and they can be devastating." With Subaru accepting Bidashal's suggestion, he led Subaru to the second Void SAM in a hexagonal format. Subaru went to the LCD touchscreen. Looking at what Bidashal did, Subaru proceeded to repeat the exact same steps to get the second SAM online. Eventually, all six SAMS were online, and ready to fire against the White Whale. At this time, Rem, Subaru, and the Zero No Tsukaima crew were making their final preparations. It was now around 10:30 in the evening. At this time, Subaru was discussing with the Zero no Tsukaima crew regarding how to deal with the Witch Cult and Sloth. Theo was the first to talk. "So, those Witch Cult bastards are hiding in that one cave. What a idiotic move. One Void missile sent straight into that cave will kill them all, along with their soul." Subaru nodded. "Yeah. One missile will end them all. And then, Emilia-tan will finally be safe. Why would they want her as a vessel?! They can all rot in hell, along with Satella!" Tiffania looked at the night sky, and with nothing else to do, she decided to look up on the internet about the types of tea that Japanese people like to drink. She found something called 'Ryokucha'. It was in the middle of the night, and she wanted something to drink. _"Well, this may calm our spirits before the battle. Maybe Subaru-san and the others would like this. Should I materialize this drink? Whatever, I might as well do it. I'm not losing anything."_ Tiffania pulled out her Materializer from her Elven storage and out came a kettle with Ryokucha, along with six tea cups. Behind Tiffania, a couple of onlookers were amazed at what she was able to do. "Look at that elf! It is unlike anything I have seen before. How in the world is she making stuff appear out of nowhere?" One of them pointed at the Materializer that Tiffania was using. "Maybe it is because of that Metia that she is on. It is giving out of a glow unlike anything I've seen in my life. Can you imagine, something like that would be worth a fortune here in Lugnica!" That is when one of them gave the person a slap in the face. "We're getting ready for the White Whale, and this is what you are thinking about right now?! Get a hold of yourself!" The one that got slapped apologized. "Sorry about that." Tiffania let out a small giggle as she overheard the conservation. She asked Subaru and the others to come to her spot. "Subaru-san! I have made some drinks. Would you like to have one? It's Ryokucha tea." Subaru heard that and came over. Rem followed Subaru as well. Eventually, all six of them were sitting down and having a cup of tea. Subaru was the first one to take a sip, not realizing how hot it was. "H..hot...HOT! I forgot to blow the tea!" Theo, Tiffania, Rem, and Luctiana giggled at Subaru's misfortune. Subaru took another sip. His eyes perked up. An explosion of flavor entered his taste buds. "Tiffania, this is really good. I haven't had Japanese tea in such a long time. The last time I had it was when I went out to eat with my parents."

Rem looked at the greenish liquid that was contained in the cup that she was holding. It was something that she had not tasted before. Noticing that Subaru enjoyed the drink, Rem blew on her drink and took a sip. Sure enough, it was delicious. "This is good. Subaru-kun is enjoying it, much like I am right now. Tiffania, what is this thing? I will have to learn how to make this." The half-elf gave Rem a smile and replied regarding to the type of drink it was. "This right here is called Ryokucha. This is a type of green tea that is common place in Japan. Subaru comes from a place where tea is a regular thing to have with meals. It is also a known fact that Japan is one of the most developed nations when it comes to Metias." Theo joined in the conservation. "That's right. All of the metias that we have came from Japan, a place that is located on Earth." Bidashal meanwhile listened. "Theo, let me add something to that. Saito changed both the human nation and the elven nation, transforming it into a modern like fantasy world. The stuff that people make on Earth is amazing." Luctiana, a big fan of games, joined in as well. "Yeah! Stuff such as phones and video games are a common talk in our place now. Wouldn't you like to have a piece of that pie too, Rem-chan?" At this time, Rem was in a state of confusion. "What's a video game?" Subaru let out a sigh. "Rem. How do I explain this...It goes like this. Basically, it is something that you dedicate you time to. It can be interactive. In other words, your actions in the real world have an impact on the person in this 'video game'. Think of it like a story you can actually take control of and interact with. There are many types of 'video games'. First of all, some of them you can play with other people. It can get really competitive." Luctiana, as usual, teased Subaru. "Great. What are you doing now, Subaru? Teaching her how to be a NEET and game in a room all day?!" Subaru raised his fist in annoyance. "Hey! What's the matter with that?! I can play video games as my hobby without being a lazy piece of shit doing nothing in Japan!"

She giggled at Subaru's reply. "Just kidding." Tiffania on the other hand, kept drinking the tea until it was completely gone. Bidashal got up after drinking his tea. He was reflected on the Void SAMS that were placed around the perimeter of the area. _"These Void SAMS are extremely powerful. Void is considered to be one of the most destructive out all of the elements out there. How effective will it be against the White Whale?"_ Theo at this time was drinking up the last sips of his tea, and looking at the recent developments of Japan with his Samsung Note 9. _"Unlike what happened in the anime, I don't think the White Whale is going to stand a chance. The sheer firepower should be more than enough to wipe out the White Whale, for good. No deaths like in the anime, no fog, no nothing. Just a complete annihilation."_ Subaru simply watched the night sky as there was nothing for him to do at the moment. There was about one hour left until the battle with the White Whale. At this time, Subaru was thinking about how people will react to him if he revealed himself to be a half elf. _"Half-elves are hated in Lugnica. Will they think of me as another half-devil like Emilia-tan? No...I shouldn't be thinking of that. This is who I am now, a half-elf. Nothing wrong with that. At least I have Shadow and Water magic now. I...I will use these powers for good!"_ Tiffania stretched out her legs, learning the methods of which by looking up dances and yoga positions online. Theo sat by Subaru, who is gazing at the stars right now. "Subaru-kun. You seem to have something in mind. Anything wrong right now? You can always tell me what is bothering you at the moment." Subaru turned to Theo. "I guess...the thing that has been bothering me is how will the people react to me being a half-elf? They might see me as a half-devil like you daughter. Well, you turned me into one and restored my gate to it's max potential."

Theo put his hand on Subaru's back. "Come on Subaru, cheer up! My daughter is a half-elf like you. She wouldn't want to see you in this state. She has truly grown into the daughter that I wanted. Back then, when I was still in Tristain, I wasn't sure that I would see her again. I thought that I would spend the rest of my life there, sulking in self-hatred and despair. But I was whisked back to Lugnica. I first saw that Appa person, and there was the Lugnican board with all of the candidates for the throne. I saw my daughters portrait, and I touched it. It was magical to me. I couldn't believe that my daughter might because the 42th King of Lugnica. That tells me something, Subaru. Didn't your parents tell you that being yourself is the most important thing of all? I was wondering, that facade that you put on when you came to Lugnica. Was that all because of a previous inferiority complex you had back when you were in Japan?" Subaru reluctantly nodded. "That's right Theo, I was trying to pretend to be like my father. In my Japanese town, my father was well respected and well-liked by everyone. As the son of my father, I was extremely pressured to live up to the expectations of being his son. I tried to imitate him in school, but that only drove away all of my friends that I made. Eventually, the pressure got to me. In high school, I made a complete clown of myself cross-dressing as a women. I felt socially anxious. Thus, I began skipping school, eventually becoming a full blown NEET. Before I came to Lugnica, I was staying in my room all day, gaming. Not contributing to society, not getting a job, or returning back to school. Yeah, that was quite pathetic. Also, I watched anime and manga all the time. Trust me, being a NEET is boring as hell, it was never a good thing to begin with in the first place. I regret skipping school. Emilia-tan would be embarrassed to hear a story like that from me." Theo nodded. He understood Subaru's struggles, specifically when he saw that Subaru broke down in Episode 13 of _Re:Zero_. "Subaru, that was in past. It is for certain that you regretted the way that you lived back in Japan. But I have learned that taking that self-loathing mindset will not only hurt yourself, but also the people around you. Remember that."

Luctiana looked at the clock via her Note 9. It was now 11:15 PM at night. "Less than a hour before the White Whale battle! Subaru! Bidashal! Time to make final checks on the Void SAMS and the barrier." Subaru heard Luctiana's loud voice and responded. "Roger!" Bidashal got up as well and went with Subaru as they took a trip around the 6 Void SAMS. "First Void SAM, second Void SAM, and third Void SAM are ready to go!" A couple of seconds later, Bidashal replied by confirming the other three. "Fourth Void SAM, Fifth Void SAM, and Sixth Void SAM ready to fire on sight of White Whale!" Meanwhile, Tiffania double checked the final barrier. "All set and ready!" Rem meanwhile looked in amazement as they were getting ready for White Whale battle. Crusch looked on in amazement. "I don't know where Natsuki Subaru and his friends gets all of these stuff, but they look like they know that they are doing." Ferris merely couldn't speak at the sheer speed that they were going through. Theo at this moment realized that they were missing a radar detector system. "Dammit! I forgot about having a radar system to detect the White Whale. No problem, I'll materialize one right now." Theo pulled out his Materializer from the elven storage.

Time was running out. It was 11:30 PM, 30 minutes before the White Whale was expected to appear. But that didn't stop Theo. He materialized a table, followed by a 40 inch screen that served as a radar indicator for the White Whale. At this time, it was making 360 degree sweeps across the area. Theo was met by confused faces through Crusch's camp. He began to speak. "Listen, this Metia right here serves as a ping for the White Whale. When it appears, there will be a red dot. That is the cue to starting firing! Subaru-san would also like to speak at this time as well." With that, Theo grabbed Subaru, who hesitated before giving in to Theo's demands. Subaru turned to face the army. "Listen all! These Metia weapons will attack the White Whale. If you are a magic user, fire all cylinders!" This cause a stir among the crowd. "But how about you? You don't have any notable powers." To that, Subaru merely replied. "Humans can fight too. We aren't powerless beings. Does it really matter if you have magic or not!? What matters is that we are all here for one goal: 'To kill the White Whale and send that thing right back where it belongs!'" Everyone stirred and nodded. Crusch came about and stepped forward. "Allow me to clarify something, Natsuki Subaru. What are we going to do after the White Whale battle?" Subaru replied. "Crusch-sama, the details will be discussed after the battle with the White Whale." All of a sudden, Subaru didn't realize that Ferris was right next to him. He nibbled on Subaru's ear. "What the-! Ferris, what you are doing?!" Ferris gave Subaru two fingers. "Perk up, Subaru-kyun. We don't want you nyow to get yourself killed in the battle." Subaru gave a small smile. "Ferris, I'll be fine. Don't get too concerned about me." Theo chuckled at Ferris behavior. _"Ah, beast humans are quite interesting. Maybe Ferris and Subaru could be come great friends in the future. I'm proud of Subaru for making allies, rather than making enemies."_ Luctiana on the other hand just downloaded PUBG mobile on her phone. It was one of the hot games on Android right now. _"At least this game is free. I might need a different game. Gonna give Fortnite a break for now."_ With that, Luctiana proceeded to create her female character. As usual, there was in app purchases. _"Not even going to bother with the in-game premium currency. What a waste of money that will be for stupid cosmetics."_

It was now 10 minutes before the White Whale battle. Luctiana put her phone away at the moment. Bidashal was making sure his magic was still working in this world. Sure enough, his magic works as well. Subaru also announced something big. "I would like to say something in regards to the light that you may have saw the day before." This caused murmurs to stir within the crowd. Subaru then pointed to himself. "That light you saw that beamed a bright beam across the entire Lugnican capital, blinding the people for several minutes, had something to do with me." As expected, the crowd was worried about Subaru. There was unrest going among the people. That is, until Crusch forced them to be quiet. "That's enough! Listen to Natsuki Subaru!" One of the soldiers in the crowd asked him. "Subaru-dono, are you OK?" Subaru waited a few seconds, then answered. "Yes, I'm fine. That light did no harm to me. However, that light may be the key here to the battle against the Whale. Please trust me on this." Just then, Bidashal stepped in, explain what this Materializer does. "I'm pretty sure many of you have been wondering how we are getting objects out of nowhere." Bidashal got out his Materialzier from his elven storage and showed it to the crowd. "This right here is called a 'Materializer'. Like the name suggests, it can make any object that I want. It serves as a place where we can add objects we make to the database. This is a result of work being done from where I came from, and where Subaru came from. Those weapons you see there will unleash power that you have never seen before. They are known as Void SAMS." Bidashal then pointed to all of the Void SAMS in the area. "They took quite a while to develop. What you will see here is the result of two years of development by the elves from my place." Everyone looked at those weapons. Subaru meanwhile looked at his iPhone XR. _"The time is now 11:55 PM. White Whale is about to make an appearance now. My ringtone is set to go off after five minutes. Gonna be fun hearing the song for: 'In Another World With my Smartphone'. Let's hope Ferris and Crusch like this 'song' of choice that I made."_

 ** _The White Whale Battle_**

At this moment in time, everyone that came to fight against the White Whale was waiting. Just then, Subaru's iPhone XR's ringtone started to go off. Subaru looked at his phone. "Metia has gone off! Everyone, stay alert! Theo, has the radar picked up anything?" Theo looked at the radar that he materialized. A few seconds later, the radar began to pick up one red ping. "Shit! It's here. Watch out! It gonna appear anytime." Crusch shouted to the troops to warn them. "Troops, be on guard!" Someone noted that they didn't see it yet. "I don't see it..." Bidashal replied in annoyance. "Did you think it would be dumb enough to show itself!? Theo's Metia has picked up an enemy ping. It's here for sure. Don't let your guard down!" Crusch on the other hand was getting worried. _"It isn't coming?"_ Just then, one of the soldiers pointed at something. "Is that..." The White Whale's shadow was on the Flugel Tree. Crusch gasped as she saw the White Whale. It was enormous, with it's red eyes, and was something that instilled fear into them. Ferris was also speechless as well. The White Whale swooped down past the army. Subaru saw that this was time to reveal his true form. He got off Patrasche's back. "Subaru-kun, what are you going to do?" Tiffania, Bidashal, Theo, and Luctiana nodded as Subaru was about to revert back to his half-elven form. Subaru raised his right hand to the right, and shouted. "Half-elf! Henshin!" With that, Subaru began glowing a white beam of light. This drew the attention of the soldier back to Subaru, who had to cover their eyes due to the bright light. Crusch and Ferris had to cover their eyes as well. When it was finished, there stood a silver haired man, with pointy ears like Emilia's and a skin that is just as pale as hers. His hair now stretched to his shoulders, and he was wearing armor that was bizarre. It was definitely not the armor of a Lugnican knight. This caused everyone, including Crusch and Ferris, to gasp. "Natsuki Subaru, so that explains what happened yesterday." The half-elf named Natsuki Subaru tuned to Crusch. He had a blue, diamond shaped pedant on his chest to indicate that he was also contracted to a spirit as well, who was named Edan. Subaru's eyes were now blue. "No time to explain now! The White Whale is right there! Fight first!"

Crusch started to rally. "Troops-" Subaru finished her sentence. "Let him have it!" Subaru turned to the White Whale that was ahead of him. He began drawing mana from the atmosphere like any other Spirits Art user. He also called out his attacks. It was a old habit from when Subaru played RPG games. "Spirit Arts...Stun Beam!" Rem then followed it with her attack as well "Al Huma!" The ice attack from Rem made contact with the White Whale. Seconds later, Subaru's Stun Beam, which was in a black with a faint indicator of yellow, made contact with the Whale, with Subaru forcing more mana and power. Eventually, the Whale was emitting electric sparks all over, frozen in the air. One solider was amazing. "Amazing! The White Whale is unable to be moved at all. Subaru did that." Tiffania shouted. "Fire the Void SAMS at will?!" Bidashal responded. "Subaru has paralyzed the White Whale in it's place. FIRE!" On command, all of the Void SAMS began firing relentlessly. The night sky was glowing with white light as each missile made impact with the White Whale. The Whale began screaming in pain as it tried to move and duplicate itself like in the anime, but it was unable to due to Subaru's debuff. Blood and chunks from the White Whale began dropping down from the Whale at an alarming rate. The soldier, Crusch, and Ferris looked on as the White Whale was engulfed in the relentless void missiles. "So...so this is the power...of Bidashal's Metia..." Another soldier was shaken in the fact. "How are the elves were able to make a weapon of mass destruction? The White Whale is getting totally annihilated." Subaru then fired another Stun Beam to make sure that the White Whale could not move. Even more chunks of the White Whale fell down to the ground. By now, it was critically wounded.

Subaru recall how terrifying the White Whale was when he first encountered it. _"That time, I was merely a human in this world. The White Whale was something that instilled fear in Lugnica. Now, it's caving in to Magitek. It has not even landed it's fog attack on us. I guess debuffs are really fatal."_ After fifteen minutes, Theo was observing the radar ping that indicated the White Whale. Fifteen minutes after the White Whale appeared, the red ping from the radar vanished from view. At the same time, the Void SAMS ceased firing. "Subaru-san! The red ping is gone." One of the soldiers replied. "So what does that mean?" Theo turned to the soldier. "I have an announcement to make! The red ping that indicated the White Whale is gone. That means the White Whale has been killed!" Yes, it turns out, there was nothing left out the White Whale but bits and pieces of the White Whales flesh and blood. Crusch was at a loss for words for the moment. Once again, the night was as silent as a cricket making noises at night. _"Natsuki Subaru and his friends really did it. They were able to accomplish what no one in Lugnica has done for the past four hundred years, and avenged all of those who have lost their lives against the White Whale."_ Crusch began making the announcement as she was walking around. "The White Whale has fallen. The mabest of fog, which as terrorized the world for four centuries, has been defeated by Natsuki Subaru and his friends! On top of that, zero casualties." Just then, everyone roared. The chant of Subaru's name got louder and louder as they all made their way to the White Whale remains. "Subaru, the Half-Elf who led us to victory. The Metias from his friends, helped us finish the White Whale." Everyone was celebrating in joy. Theo was happy. "We did it! Tiffania, we really did it!" Tiffania ran over to Theo and gave him a hug so hard that he fell to the ground. "Sorry Theo-san, I'm just too exited at this moment to do anything." Even Bidashal, who didn't smile often, gave a little smirk.

Luctiana was also celebrating the victory. She made a video reference. "You just got pwned FTW!" Crusch continued. "We have won this battle! A one-sided battle!" Subaru was standing by Rem at this point, while some of them were preparing to go back. Subaru at this time walked away for a moment and looked at the moon. _"Once again, the moon is beautiful. Just like Emilia-tan. We've won the battle, in a cubstomp. But, this battle here is far from over. Definitely far from being over. We still have the Witch Cult to deal with."_ Crusch walked up to Subaru while he was staring at the moon. "Are you all right, Natsuki Subaru?" Subaru turned to Crusch, with his handsome features, white skin like Emilia's and his piercing blue eyes. Subaru replied. "I'm all right. I'm glad that you are safe, Crusch-sama." Crusch replied. "I am, yes. We had no losses today, thanks to your Metia. You, have become a half-elf now." Subaru replied. "Yes, I am. I'll expect to face prejudice, but I don't about that. I have accepted who I have become now." Crusch shook her head. "Natsuki Subaru. You have changed a lot since I first saw you." Subaru gave a little smile. "You did well too, Crusch-san. With this, I think you popularity will go-Wait, did I just give you boost in the royal selection that I shouldn't have?" Subaru was scratching his head, thinking that he gave Crusch a boost in the election. "That is quite a gloomy look on her face. You don't look like the hero who brought down the White Whale." Subaru chuckled. "Both the Emilia camp and your camp were the ones to bring the White Whale down. You're right, I was the one who got everyone here today. I was the leader in this. And that is just great, because Emilia-tan might call me a traitor. Wait a minute, what did you call me?"

Crusch replied to Subaru's question. "The hero who led the expedition and brought down the White Whale. I would not be shameless enough to claim your achievement as my own." Subaru nodded. "That was the first time that I actually used Shadow magic in actual combat. I guess there is a first for everything. I guess that I came a long away since that day, huh?" Crusch replied, "There is no cause for modesty. In truth, I would love to welcome you into my household and reward your true accomplishments." Subaru coudln't handle all of that at once. "Please don't asked that of me! It isn't about loyalty or allegiance, but my faith already lies exactly where it should. Subaru looked at Emilia's eagle emblem that held his suit together. "I'll make Emilia the ruler. Not for anyone's sake. It's simply what I want to do." Subaru then looked at the blue diamond-shaped crystal on his chest. Crusch noticed. "You're a Spirits Arts user like Emilia. It stings quite a bit. Even if the day come where must come and settle things, I shall not forget the debt incurred by this day. Even when we'll be enemies, I'll be treating you as a friend." Crusch and Subaru then shook hands. Just then Wilhelm came to Subaru and kneeled to Subaru. "Subaru-dono, I can't thank you further for the subjugation of the White Whale. I thank you. I thank you. I thank you with all of that I am!" Subaru nodded to Wilhelm. "Speaking of Emilia-tan, our next step is take out the Witch Cult. I contacted the lesser spirits to find out where their location is. It is in a small cave right around Roswaal's domain. We'll be heading there eventually. Crusch, I will require your assistance for this. My elven friends have already made preparations for attack against the Witch Cult. We'll be attacking at the very early morning, while they are asleep." Crusch sighed. "Natsuki Subaru, then there's no time to lose! Let's get moving then!" Crusch came to the entire army and made an announcement. "Natsuki Subaru has something to say. Listen to him."

 _ **Announcement**_

With that, the half-elf walked over and turned to the army. Tiffania, Theo, Luctiana, Rem, and Bidashal joined Subaru while he was talking. "We have defeated the White Whale, but the battle is far from over. We still have the Witch Cult to deal with! As you can tell by my appearance, I'm a half elf, a Spirits Art user. As I just became one recently, I am still a beginner at it. However, I made contact with the lesser spirits and the said that the Witch Cult will attack in the morning. They are hiding in that cave But we will not allow that! As being part of Emilia's faction, I can not let them continue with their wicked views of the Jealous Witch. My friends here will launch one Void SAM into that cave, killing all of them instantly. Not only that, but their souls will be obliterated instantly. Now, let's get moving. Time is a ticking." Bidashal walked around the perimeter and deactivated the Void SAMS and dematerialized all six of them. Luctiana disabled the elven barrier and dematerialized that as well. Subaru got out his iPhone XR and opened the app called. 'Lugnican Maps'. He looked at the distance from the Flugel tree to Emilia's place. The iPhone XR gave him an approximate time of arrival. _"Two hours from now it seems. That'll will bring us up there to around 2:30 AM in the morning. I'll be returning to Roswaal's mansion once the Witch Cult is dealt with."_ Subaru walked to Richardo. He noticed Subaru's true appearance. "So Subaru, this is your true form. A half elf. I can see your pointy ears and that silver hair. Your eyes are blue now. I didn't expect you to look like this. It's a miracle you don't look exactly like the Witch." Subaru shook his head. "Let's just say that this is a gift from one of my friends named Theo." Ricardo gave Subaru a hard slap on the back. "That's our hero! Natsuki Subaru!" Subaru was not expecting that at all. "Ouch! Could you pat my back a little less harder next time? I'm still a Spirit Arts user in training."

Everyone started to make their way towards Roswaal's mansion in the middle of the night. Subaru was riding with Rem in front of him. The Flugel tree became smaller and smaller, until there was no tree in sight. Now, it was just the empty space of night. Crusch came over to talk to Subaru. "Natsuki Subaru, now that your gate is fully restored, I'll send to Emilia that the treatment is complete." Subaru raised his hand. "If that is the case then do so. However, please say that I am going to stay at the mansion for a few more days." Crusch was confused. "What?" Subaru clarified. "I'm gonna play a prank on her. Basically can she figure out that I am now a half elf?" Crusch sighed. "Prank? You are going to play a prank on Emilia. Of course. I can do that." Ferris looked at Subaru. "Nyow you are going to play a prank on Emilia-sama? You never change." Just then, Luctiana stepped up. "Yeah Subaru, like that one part where you said to Rem. 'I love Emilia'." Subaru blushed in embarrassment. "Wha-Wha...how did you...shut up Luctiana!" This cause Ferris, Crusch, and the others around him to giggle uncontrollably. Subaru facepalmed himself. "This...this is gonna to be a long night..." At this moment in time, Subaru pulled out his iPhone XR from his pocket and decided to watch a video on YouTube. It was called: "The Verge PC Build." Subaru was watching the video with his earphones that he got from his elven storage. _"A PC build? Let's hope this guy knows what the hell he is doing."_ Before that though, an ad began to play, it was a 30 second ad that couldn't be skipped. _"A 30 second ad? You have got to be kidding me. And it's that stupid ad about car insurance."_ After the ad finished, the PC build video was underway.

 _ **The Verge PC Video**_

"So a few years ago, TC, our managing editor, built a gaming desktop, but it's kinda out of date, and it's definitely not going to hold up for Battlefield 5. So, let's build a new one." Subaru looked down at the iPhone XR while Luctiana looked at him. "Subaru is doing that thing yet again. On his smartphone again, like many teenagers these days." On the Verge video, Subaru watched the college graduate building a PC. "You can build a gaming desktop for around $1,000 dollars, but I want to go all out, so I spent around 2000. A PC like this is going to able play most games at Ultra settings. So what do you need to build the desktop. Well of course, you need a table, preferably not metal." Subaru was already paused the video to collect his thoughts. _"Metal table? Who would use a metal table to build a PC? Ridiculous! Whatever."  
_ The video kept on going. "If it is going to be metal, have an anti-static working surface layered on top of it, a thermal paste applicator, an allen wrench, some tweezers to tight up the wires, a Swiss Army knife, which hopefully has a Phillips head screwdriver on it. And last but not least, an anti-static bracelet, which is to protect you and the parts." The cringe on Subaru's face was already starting to show. He build his own computer in Japan before he got here. When he was a NEET, he build a gaming computer so that he could play games on it all day. Subaru knew how to build a PC by following guides online. He was already cringing at the choice of words this person made. _"Tweezers?! Those are zip ties, you idiot! Secondly, who the hell uses a thermal paste applicator? Just use the tube to apply the thermal paste. Allen wrench? You don't need that damn thing! And a Swiss Army knife? Just buy a damn screwdriver kit from Amazon. Is it really that hard to do that?!"_

Rem noticed that Subaru's face was getting agitated. "Subaru-kun, is something wrong right now?" Subaru turned to Rem. "No, I'm just reacting to something that I am watching right now. Please pay no attention to it." Rem simply nodded as they continued along the highway towards Roswaal's mansion. Subaru looked back at his iPhone XR. "But more importantly, before we get there, we need to understand what these parts are doing and how they interact with one another." Subaru knew this already and fast forwarded to the part where the speaker was talking about putting the PC together. "And now, we are really going to start building, by adding the motherboard in. Some notes about installing motherboards. They're really delicate, you should be really careful with them, and screw with confidence, but also don't screw in too hard, otherwise, you could crack the board." Subaru reacted to this as well. _"Just say screw wrist tight. And also, why are you installing the motherboard into the case first? You should be installing the CPU and RAM first. You're only making hard for yourself. This is not how you should explain to people how to build a PC in the first place. This guy looks like he is lost. Holy crap, can this video get any worse? I bet for sure it can. Let's just keep going along the video for giggles."_

In the next part, the Verge video was talking about which motherboard he choose. "I choose the Asus Z370 motherboard for two main reasons. One, it has built in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Secondly, it has support for NVME SSDS, meaning you can get really fast SSDS that are really easy to install." Subaru turned to Theo, who was a expert in tech. "Theo-san, what is a NVME SSD?" Theo was riding on one of the land dragons. At this time they can start to see the forest in the distance. Theo replied to Subaru. "Subaru, an NVME is a super fast SSD. It can open programs almost instantly. You don't have to wait for anything to load in." Subaru nodded and went back to the video. He shook his head. Something was not right about the video. _"Who the hell buys a motherboard for Wi-Fi? If you want to cripple yourself even more. Why am I even watching this guy again? This is bad, can it get any worse than this?! This guy's hopeless."_

"Pay attention to the brace that goes at the back of the computer. You have to make sure that you hammer it in, because there is no screws. It really has go outside of the case and clasp onto the frame and this is very important because otherwise, you can't align the motherboard correctly with the holes. We're gonna start installing all eight screws." Subaru shook his head. _"That's an IO shield, not a 'brace'! Also, those screws are called standoff screws for the motherboard."_ The Verge video continued. "Next, we are going to install the RAM on the other board. I choose Corsair's 16 GB Vengence LED RAM two main reasons. One, it has LEDs and we do like lights in our gaming desktops. Secondly, it's pretty fast RAM, it's 2666 MHZ, I believe. So it's pretty fast and this motherboard supports that speed which is important. Open the slots first and just aligning the stick with the middle of the strip, not with the end and just lining that up with the logo. Once you here that solid clasp, and you don't see the gold connectors on the side anymore, that's when you know the RAM is in." Subaru was starting to rip the video a new one. _"No, the RAM is installed when the clips close back in and you here a clicking sound."_ It was getting harder for Subaru to watch. "Next, we are going to install the hard drive or in this case, the NVME SSD. I choose this format of solid-state drive so that I can input it into the motherboard without having to worry about extra wires or putting it in a separate part of the case and just get it really messy. This is from Kingston and it's 480 gigabytes, so it's not a lot, but you can always upgrade this and swap it out and it's only held down by one screw and the latch, so it's really simple and really straightforward. Speed for gaming is important when it comes to a hard drive. You want files to write quickly, and want games to load quickly, so that's why it's best if you use an SSD. Okay, so step four is we're gonna install the graphics card. I choose PNY GTX 1080, which is overclocked. It's a pretty easy installation. Just find the gold connectors, and line this bracket with the back end bracket or with your PC case. Now which lane you choose depends on which other parts you are going to put in the system. I'm just gonna pick the top one because the SSD is at the bottom and I don't want to cover it. I think it looks nice. Click down. Take your remaining bracket's and put them down in the space you used. You don't have to screw them in. There you go, your GPU is installed."

The half-elf named Subaru Natsuki grilled him. _"I think it looks nice?! No, you want to put the GPU in the PCIx16 lane so that you can get the most out of your GPU."_ It was only going get even worse. "Power supply time. I choose Corsairs 850 watt power supply because I need enough headroom for ray tracing GPUs when they come out and I don't want to have to upgrade them again. So all you have to do is take the brick and align in with these little insulating pads, so the power supply doesn't short circuit and come into contact with the rest of the system." That statement made Subaru pause the video. _"Hold on. Did he really just say that? I have to go back in the video."_ Once again, the video played. "So all you have to do is take the brick and align in with these little insulating pads, so the power supply doesn't short circuit and come into contact with the rest of the system." The half-elf started to giggle. "So the power supply doesn't short circuit and come into contact with the rest of the system?!" Subaru was laughing out of control. Everyone, from Crusch, to Ferris, to Richardo, looked at him as if he had lost it. Subaru tried to calm himself down, but to no avail. "Sorry, there was something too funny in this Metia." Luctiana leaned over to see what Subaru was watching.

"A PC build video huh?" Luctiana watched it as well, but then went back to look forward on her land dragon. Subaru couldn't believe what this guy was saying. "That has gotta be one of the most idiotic things that have I ever heard. Those are vibrating pads, not insulating pads. And the PSU is not going to short circuit the system!" He kept on watching. "So just take it in, slide it in nice and easily until you have snug fit and shift it to the back and make sure it's right up against the frame." The cringe was getting worse. _"No, you're putting the PSU in the wrong orientation! You're suffocating the PC out of outside air."_ The stuff that was wrong with this video kept piling up. "Now just take the required screws and you tighten and screw in. So next step, we are going install the CPU cooler. In this case, it's going to go on the top end of the case and we're just gonna have the hose hang out for a little while, until we install the processor, which is going to come a little bit later. Always be sure to try to place it in the system first before you install it because you can see it takes up a lot of space. But in the case, no pun intended, it fits in perfectly and we're gonna start screwing it in. So there's nothing special about this screwing in process, they're just really long screws because they go through the entire frame of the cooler and they take forever." Subaru paused the video once again. _"Those long screws are for installing the fans onto the radiator. They are called long screws for a reason! What the fuck are you doing? Do you even realize what you have done? This is so bad, even Emilia-tan would be embarrassed. I'll keep watching, but I'm almost at my limit."_ There was no end in sight to the Verge video. "So next up, cables. Every power supply going to come with a big bag of velcro cables. It's kinda daunting at first, so you have to always have to find the one that are gonna fit. In this case, you need to match those cables with the correct descriptions on the power supply. Next step, we are connecting the power supply to the motherboard with a 24 pin cable. We're just matching that cable from the motherboard, threading through the back and attaching the 24 pin header to the power supply, so that we can have of the connections complete. The next few addition will be for the GPU, for any specific ports that the case has, for any lighting the case has, the CPU cooler, anything else really. We're installing the CPU, the heart of computer or the brain, depending on how you look at it. So do this, we're just going to remove the plastic covering that they put on the motherboard. We're gonna take this little plastic part out. I'll toss that out of here."

Subaru watched as the CPU cover socket flew out to the back. _"Dude, why? If the motherboard is faulty, you will need that to return it. Otherwise, you're fucked. My goodness."_ There was no end in sight. "And now, we have an exposed CPU holder or slot on the motherboard and we're gonna use the CPU applicator." Subaru was getting more annoyed at the person building the PC. _"Just put the damn CPU in the socket. Stop making it more complicated than it needs to be!"_ The person in the Verge video was doing something to the CPU. Subaru winced. _"What...what are you doing?! The CPU is dedicate. You're gonna fuck up the pins if you keep doing that!"_ Rem noticed that Subaru was getting more agitated. "This is a special part that not everyone may get, but this motherboard that we got from ASUS definitely does 's called a CPU installation tool. It makes it really useful if you want to install a core i7 hexa core CPU. Yeah, we've got one right and it's an eighth generation chip and it's ready to go and it's supports overclocking. So what having this little installer does for you is basically a brace that you can apply right to the CPU and line it up with the triangles that you'll see on the bottom left corners and this will make it easier for us to apply to the motherboard and apply thermal paste, and then apply a CPU cooler on top, and we're gonna carefully lean it down into the system and make sure that everything lines up and we're gonna clasp down on it and we'll be good to go." This was where the cringe will be at a all time high. "So we're about to apply thermal paste to the CPU." Subaru put his hand to his mouth and shook his head. _"No, stop right there! You don't need more thermal paste. The damn AIO cooler has it already, stop it!"_ Unfortunately, the Verge video just keeps getting worse. "Every CPU comes with a bit of thermal paste already neatly applied in a circle around it, but it's usually not enough." Subaru paused the video. _"Hold the fucking phone. 'It's usually not enough?!' Are you shitting me?! No, someone stop him before he does it. You don't need anymore thermal paste dammit!"_ It ain't getting any better. "It's good, essentially PC building practice to add a little extra and layer out on top of the CPU." Subaru couldn't believe what he was seeing with his own eyes.

 _"No it's NOT! He's actually doing this. Have you even watched a video on PC building?! Emilia-tan can do a better job than you."_ The Verge video was approaching the end, but Subaru won't get there. "The final portion is to add the CPU cooler to the top end of the processor." The half-elf turned away and put his left hand on his mouth in disbelief. "That's it, I can't watch this video anymore. Look at that CPU in thermal paste! Holy shit. And don't get me started on that RAM placement, because that ain't supporting dual channel!" Subaru turned off his iPhone XR and looked at Theo. "What I watched was a cringefest on how to build a PC as a gamer. It's insulting and full of lies and rookie mistakes. How did this shit get approved by The Verge?!" Theo shook his head. "Subaru, I guess sometimes, people don't do their proper research." Crusch looked at Subaru. "Natsuki Subaru, that metiac gives off the brightest glow. It seems like you are enjoying it to a degree. Can you tell us when are we going to get to the Witch's Cult hideout?" Subaru exited out of YouTube and opened the map app. It show the estimated time to arrival as being 75 minutes from now. "Crusch-sama, we are going to arrive in 75 minutes. There hideout is located several miles southwest of Irlam Village. I would suggest that we make as little noise as possible when we get close to the hideout." Bidashal joined the chat. "Yes, we have to make little to no noise. Since they need to sleep, we'll fire the first shot, and they will all be wiped out off Lugnica before they even get a chance to react." Luctiana shouted. "Nice stealth plan! We aren't going to give them a chance to fight." Subaru's face formed a smile. He looked a the diamond shaped crystal on his chest. It was blue, indicating that he was at full strength. Ferris looked at Subaru. _"Not only Subaru-kyun will be the hero that took down the White Whale, but he'll be the hero who took down the Witch's Cult. He's changed quite a bit ever since I met him at Emilia-sama's place. Emilia is lucky to have a person that is devoted as him."_

 ** _On the way to fight the Witch Cult_**

As they were riding, they started to enter the forest. Crusch told everyone to slow down to reduce the noise. They need to preserve the stealth element when doing a surprise attack against the Witch Cult. Wilhelm was riding on a land dragon. He asked Subaru something. "Subaru-dono. Do you love Emilia-sama as much as I love my wife?" Subaru's face turned bright red. "Wilhelm-san. I think you know the answer to that by now." A warm smile formed across both Subaru's and Wilhelm's face. Subaru looked at his phone. _"Sixty minutes to arrival."_ By now, Subaru started to remember the route. This was the same one he took when he and Emilia went to the capital. Tiffania on the other hand was on her phone. Even the half-elf couldn't escape the smartphone addiction. She was playing Fortnite while riding on the land dragon. Luctiana complained about her antics. "Tiffania is on her phone again! Playing Fortnite again! Out of all of this time, why is she doing that now?" Bidashal shuts Luctiana down. "Let Tiffania do what she wants. That's her business, not ours!" Subaru simply watched as the small feud began and ended. The crew kept quiet as they made there way to the village. Subaru had plenty of thoughts in his mind, specifically about Emilia. _"She must have suffered quite a lot while I was in the Capital. I bet the villagers scorned her again. No, that isn't right. Emilia deserves to be treated as an equal, just like everyone in Japan. But how will they see me? What will Emilia-tan and Ram think of my new appearance? Will they even recognize me?"_

Forty five minutes later, they reached the outer edge of Irlam Village. It was dark, as expected. Tiffania noticed it was well. "Um...there seems to be no one here right now. It's compete dark, with no source of light at all." Bidashal looked at the village. "This must be near Roswaal's mansion. They're sleeping at this time. We are pretty close to the Witch's Cult hideout. Taking them out should be our number one thing to do right now." Subaru nodded and took out his iPhone XR to find the direction that the hideout was located. "We're getting really close now! It's a few miles southwest of this village!" Also, the timer on the phone told Subaru that it was around 2:00 AM in the morning. Subaru walked in front of everyone, as he was going to led the army to the cave where the Witch's Cult was hiding. Crusch pointed at Subaru. "Everyone! Follow Natsuki Subaru! Make as little noise as possible!" Everyone slowed down to the point that it was silent now. Eventually, they all made it to the sight of the Witch Cult hideout. They were about 500 meters away from the hideout. Richardo was wondering what Subaru was going to do. "Subaru, what are you planing to do? Rushing in there might not be the best idea in the world." Subaru shook his head. "We don't need to rush in there. We are going to blow the entire cave up." One of the soldiers was taken aback. "Wait a minute Subaru! Are you telling me that you are going to fire that Metia weapon in the cave?! You must be quite insane to think of that!" Subaru shook his head. "This is the best way to finish them off without deaths on our side. Any person that is cause it the blast radius will have their soul eradicated!" Bidashal got off of his land dragon and pulled out his Materializer. This time, he materialized a table, and a enemy UAV sweeper. There was a display that told Bidashal how many hostile enemies were in that cave. Subaru wanted to confirmed with Bidashal before deploying the Void SAM. "Bidashal, how many enemies are in that cave?" Bidashal looked at the display again. "Subaru-kun, there seems to be 100 Witch Cult members. All of them are sleeping at the moment, including it's leader, Betelgeuse, the Archbishop of Sloth." Subaru gave Tiffania the all ahead to prepare the Void SAM for firing. "Good. Tiffania, deploy Void SAM!" Tiffania got out her Materializer in an instant and deployed a Void SAM. There was single missile that was aimed at the hideout." She got to the Void SAM and armed it to fire into the cave. "Missile is ready. Ready to fire on your command." Ferris looked at the missile that was aimed towards the cave. The amount of power that each missile landed on the White Whale was nothing but pure terror. "Subaru-kyun, will this really finish them off?" Subaru turned to Ferris. "Ferris-san. We have to wipe them out before they can attack." Crusch walked right next to Subaru. "If that is the case Natsuki Subaru, then we can finally catch a break after this." Subaru nodded. "You guys must be tired by now, so I'll think of something to do once we finish this." The half-elf in silver hair then turned to the hideout of the Witch Cult.

 _"As a price for attacking the village and killing my Emilia-tan, here is parting gift to you. Burn in hell, Betelgeuse."_ Subaru turned to Theo, who was going to be the one that is going to let the Void SAM open fire. "Theo! Get ready. And...OPEN FIRE!" Just then, Theo launched the Void SAMS. All of the 12 missiles traveled 500 meters in a split second, with all of the entering the cave. The area was engulfed in a white ball of light. When everything finally settled, there was nothing left of the cave. All there was there was a crater in the ground. Before the Witch Cult members had any time to react to the surprise attack, they were all annihilated in an instant. Not even Betelgeuse with his Unseen Hands could react. In a matter of a split second, the mighty Witch Cult that was supposed to attack Emilia's faction was completely gone. They have fallen to the might that is known as Magitek. Subaru turned to to Bidashal. "What does the radar say?" Bidashal looked at radar. The screen read the following: _"All hostiles have been eliminated and KIA. Zero Witch Cult members still alive."_ There was absolutely no sign of the enemy. "S..Suba...Subaru did it! He wiped the Witch Cult out!" The army around him roared into cheers, and Subaru walked to the front. Tiffania, Luctiana, Theo, and Bidashal all got to the front, and tossed Subaru upwards. At this very moment, Subaru felt that he was on the top of the world. With the Witch Cult annihilated, Emilia-tan can live in peace, and technology/Magitek from Subaru's world can infiltrate the mansion. Crusch stepped forward again to make yet another announcement. "Today, in the wee hours of the morning, that the Witch Cult has been extinguished. That is due to the efforts of all of you, and Natsuki Subaru, Emilia's friend. This is a one-sided battle that we won! They will not terrorize other people no longer! They have vanished away into the darkness, where they should have been in the first place. They are no more!"

Subaru's face lit up as he turned around to the people leading him. "In a matter of several hours, he had not only taken out the White Whale, but the Witch Cult as well. Rem out out her One Plus smartphone and took a photo of Subaru. Rem was surprised as the Metia in her hands captured a moment in time, but she did that. She then went into the menu and set Subaru as her wallpaper. Hopefully, Subaru does not notice that. Theo walked behind Subaru and pat him on the back. "Subaru, I knew you could do it! We were able to defeat them, and save the entire faction. All of the thanks is to you." Subaru put his hands in front of him. "Oh, please don't think of it! I did what was the best and right thing to do. Seeing us win is something that give me hope, that Emilia-tan will be accepted as an equal in society." Tiffania got out her Note 9 and began recording. "This is Tiffania. Subaru-san had just won against the White Whale and the Witch Cult in the matter of a few hours. We altered the course of the anime and what Subaru is as a person. I'm pretty sure that I will show Emilia-sama, a fellow half-elf, how to use Magitek. She won't be able to live without one these days. I know I can't live without one." At this time, Subaru wanted to showcase his Metia (the iPhone XR) to Ferris. With that, Subaru walked to Ferris and grabbed his flip phone as well. "This metia, on my right, was the key to finding the White Whale and the Witch Cult's hideout. The one that you see on the right is an advanced version of the metia that is in my right hand. This is the result of years of research and refining to get to this point. From where I came from, people can't live without this. It has become an important piece in our everyday lives. This is your source of info, so maybe you will have it. Ferris, think of it as a Communication Mirror, but much more flexible." Ferris looked at it. "So bright, Subaru-kyun. It's a Communication Mirror?" Subaru nodded. Theo walked over to Ferris. "We might give you one, but we really don't have much when it comes to factories around here. So it's exclusive to us for the time being, as we have used it often."

 _ **Celebration**_

Ferris thought nothing of it. After ten minutes, things have quiet down quite a lot. Crusch sat down, along with Wilhelm. "Natsuki Subaru, what we are doing now?" Subaru turned to Crusch. His eyes were slightly red due to a lack of sleep. We'll rest for thirty minutes, then go our separate ways. That was a long day with dealing with both the Witch Cult and the White Whale. It is time for us to catch a break." Crusch looked at Ferris, then looked at Wilhelm. It was clear to her that they were fatigued from the fight. "We'll be taking a break here for thirty minutes! All troops, feel free to do what you want at this time." Everyone began chatting. Bidashal materialized a light source in the middle so that everyone could see. Rem, Tiffania, Luctiana, and Theo were talking with Subaru at this time. "Subaru-kun. Emilia-sama, Ram-sama, Roswaal would be so proud of you right now. You have done the impossible." Subaru looked at Rem. "I have. Wait a minute..." Subaru's mind flashed back to Julius, to which there was still a grudge between them. _"I'm sorry Julius. Please forgive me for being reckless. I should have never lashed out like that. But what he think of me? I'm no knight. Never was. More importantly, I'm Emilia-tan's first friend!"_ Theo walked away from the crowd to collect his thoughts. "It's finally over at last. The Witch Cult...who killed my daughter mercilessly. I'll finally meet my daughter...Emilia...for real." Tears formed in Theo's eyes, with each drop falling to the ground. It then turned into an uncontrollable sobbing. He simply crumpled to the ground and placed his hands on his face, not wanting anyone else to see the emotions leaking out.

Tiffania noticed him breaking down and walked over to comfort Theo. "Theo-san, this will be the day when your daughter is finally reunited for you. You've suffered so much, ever since you thought of her. But please, stay strong for your daughter. You must stay strong!" Theo nodded, and wipped the tears from his face. "I'm...so happy that I will be able to see what she as grown into. Not by watching an anime, but seeing her with my very own two eyes." Theo got up and walked back to join the crew. Tiffania looked down, then looked back at him "Theo-san. Will you really be all right?" Subaru was talking to Rem. "So, we're gonna try to hide from Emilia and Ram. Subaru-kun, I'm not sure if we can keep this up for long. They will find us eventually." Subaru pointed his fingers up, his otaku side coming up once again. "No problem! We just have to avoid them!" Luctiana facepalmed. "Really Subaru-san? That won't work either. You know we're are going to be new residences where Emilia lives, so there is no point in trying to hide it from her." Subaru then tried to come up with another suggestion. "I'll put on pseudo glasses and pretend to be someone else. I have sliver hair, blue eyes, and skin that is as pale as hers. There's no way she'll know that it's me." Bidashal objected. "I won't be so sure. While Emilia-sama might not be able to recognize you, I'm pretty sure Puck will know who you are. Your facal structure remains the same as it was when you used to be a human. Thus, I won't exactly be surprised if Puck knew that you were Subaru, even if you became a half-elf. He's pretty good at reading people, you know?"

Subaru hated to admit it, but Bidashal had a point. "You're right. It'll be a matter of time she finds out that I'm Subaru. It'll be hard to hide who I am, but with these glasses, and if I don't talk, maybe I can make myself a low profile at the mansion. She'll think I am still at Crusch's mansion get treated for my gate. The hardest part thought would be to not give away myself by talking in her proximity. That's harder to do than actually say. Let's try this at least to see if she realizes that I am now at the mansion." Theo put his head together. "How are you going to accomplish that?" Subaru thought for a few seconds. "It's all due to timing. If Rem and all of us avoid being around Emilia, then it would seem like we're still at Crusch's place. Ram and Emilia-tan will still be the only one who appear to be in the mansion." Luctiana was thinking for a moment. "All right then, let's do that plan then." Theo looked at the Void SAM. _"Shoot, I almost forgot to take that thing down."_ Theo dematerialized the Void SAM and put his elven storage back into his pocket. Thirty minutes have passed, which means that it was time to part ways, Subaru and Crusch walked together and shook hands. "Thank you Natsuki Subaru. I'll never forgot this day. Even though we may be political enemies, I'll treat you as a friend. Best of luck to you and Emilia. She is lucky to have a man, well half-elf like you." Wilhelm came over to bow to Subaru. "Subaru-dono, I thank you once again for letting me take down the White Whale. I hope that you find the same love for Emilia-sama as my wife." Finally, Ferris came over. "Nyow don't need treatment for me any more? Aw. So long, Subaru-kyun. We'll meet again. Oh, and you better make it up with Emilia-sama. Come see us again when you have the chance!"

 _ **A new home**_

Subaru replied as he looked at the nightsky. "Thank you for treating me at your mansion. I appreciate it." Subaru and the Zero no Tsukaima crew waved as Crusch's army turned and headed back the way they came. They became smaller and smaller until they vanished in the horizon. The only ones left now were Subaru, Rem, Tiffania, Theo, Bidashal, and Tiffania. Subaru looked at his clock. "It's three in the morning. We better make our way back to the mansion. Rem, do you have the key? The gate and the door are most likely locked." Rem looked over at her maid pocket. One had her phone, the other had the key. "Subaru-kun, I have the key in here." Subaru nodded and started walking towards the mansion. "Well then, let's make our way there." They walked past Irlam Village, which was still dark. Soon, they crossed the bridge. Tiffania saw the mansion coming into video. "I thought this place was pretty big, but you don't really know until you see it yourself." Theo nodded as well. "So this is where my daughter lives." Eventually, they reached the black gate that is closed. It was completely dark, with no lights whatsoever. Rem walked over and took the key from her hand. Bidashal asked about the mansion. "So, we'll be joining Emilia's faction? We can't go anywhere else. I mean, elves face quite a bit of discrimination due to that simeball named the Jealous Witch. "

Subaru turned to face the Zero no Tsukaima crew. "You will be part of Emilia's faction from here on out. She'll accept you, and so would Roswaal-kun. Well, I must say. Welcome to Emilia-tan's residence! It's a pretty big place, so I hope you will be comfortable with staying here. It'll be the new home for you all."


	8. First Day & Hiding from Emilia-tan

_**At Roswaal's Mansion, 3:00 AM in the morning.**_

The Zero no Tsukaima crew were following behind Rem as she unlocked the black gate. Lamps and trees lined up all the way to the entrance of the mansion, which was ahead of them. It was completely dark at the mansion, with the only source of lights being the lamps that were on. There was no sound whatsoever, not even from the mansion itself. Theo observed the lamps. "Those lamps, what are they operated on, Subaru-kun?" The half elf looked back at Theo as he walked closer to the entrance. "I have no clue. All that I know is that they do not use electricity to operate that thing. I think they may use magic so that the lamp operates." Tiffania noticed that there was a ton of windows. "That is a ton of windows." Subaru's face formed into a deadpan. "Uh…Tiffania-san. Maybe that is why they call it a MANSION? They need to allow for as much sunlight as possible." Luctiana also noted that there was five watchtowers in the mansion. _"The mansion looks exactly like the Re:Zero anime. All of the details. Every single bit of the mansion is like the one from the anime. We really did got sucked_ _into the Re:Zero world. Not only that, we managed to alter the course from the anime. First of all, Subaru is no longer human. He is a half-elf like Emilia. He is a sprits art user like Emilia. Instead of Puck, Subaru has Edan. Instead of ice magic, Subaru specializes in Shadow magic and Water magic. And then, our Magitek technology farted away both the White Whale and the Witch Cult as if they were nothing. On top of that, Subaru now has technology back in his hands. He's going be occupied for a while."_

Eventually, they made their way into the mansion after Rem unlocked the door. The Zero No Tsukaima crew was greeted with an entrance that had great elegance. There are two pillars with a pair of lamps each. In addition to having high class designs, there are lights near each door, as well as vases with flowers. There are two routes to the sides, right, and left. There is also stairs that lead up to the next floor. Bidashal was already fond of the mansion's design. "What a nice entrance. Back where I am from, there is really quite a bit of an upgrade. Appropriate that this place will be our new home." Theo put his hands on his chin. "Yes, that is quite the case." Subaru then pulled out his iPhone XR. "It is about 3:00 AM in the morning. Um….Bidsashal, do you have any pills that we can take that can hold off our sleeping until tomorrow night. Me and Rem need to show you the way around the mansion." Bidashal was tried to find out if he made any pills that can repair the brain as if the person was sleeping 8 hours. Luckily, he found out that he had several in the elven storage, about 10 of them. Bidashal took six of them out. "I have 6 pills in my hands. This should hold off sleeping fatigue."

 _ **A tour of the mansion**_

Bidashal materialized water with his Materializer. Rem, Subaru, Bidashal, Tififana, Theo, Tiffania, and himself took the pills. Before, Tiffania was yawing due to her staying awake longer than she normally goes for. Now, all of them had a sudden rush of energy return to them. No longer were their eyes droopy. Subaru also was feeling the effects of sleeping fatigue, and was fighting keep himself awake before he took the pill. "That's much better. Now, shall we show you around?" Everyone from Zero no Tsukaima nodded. Rem nodded, and started to walk towards the kitchen. The silver hair half-elf started to follow Rem. "Rem will show the way. Please follow her." The Zero no Tsukaima crew walked into a large hallway. Luctiana commented at the size. "I can already tell that I am going to get lost quite easily." Tiffania was also quite lost as well. As a sheltered half-elf, she never stepped in a mansion that was this huge before. Eventually, they came to the kitchen. Subaru explained to the Zero no Tsukaima crew what this room was. "As you can see here, this is where Rem and Ram prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are your usual kitchen utensils." That was when Theo began walking around, analyzing the equipment that they use to cook. _"Typical medieval cooking tech. I think it's time to replace all of them with modern tech."_ With that, Theo pulled out his Materializer. Subaru was confused on what Theo was doing. "Wait…Theo! What are you doing? We can't just replace the t…" Theo materialized a microwave onto one of the tables. He then removed the sink, and replaced it with a modern sink.

He also moved the pots to the middle desk and replace all of the desks with a modern style desk. He also materialized a refrigerator and an electric gas stove. He also materialized Google Assistance on the desk as well. Subaru was shocked. "Theo, do you have any idea on how confused will Rem and Ram will be?! They haven't used technology of this caliber before! Did you even think this through?!" Theo nodded his head. "No needed to be freaked out, Subaru-kun. We can easily teach them how to use these devices. We can teach Rem now." Rem was also confused. There was three new Metia devices that she had never seen before. Rem asked Theo about that refrigerator. "Theo-kun, what is that giant rectangular thing?" She then pointed to the Metia. Theo cleared his throat before talking. "That right there is called a refrigerator. The main purpose of it is to keep food cold so that it doesn't go rancid." He then walked to the gas stove. The letters were in Lugnican. "This right here is called a gas stove, Rem. This is where you will cook your food. I will show you how to use this thing." Rem watched as Theo pressed on the gas knob and turned it to the right. A blue flame lit up on the bottom left of the stove, starting Rem. "Fire magic? This metia here can cook?" Theo nodded. He then pointed to the oven which is at the bottom. "This here is an oven. You can set the temperature of this and the time by the display above the stove. Rem watched as Theo pressed the timer to 30 minutes and the temperature to 400 F.

He then pressed start, which cause the oven to start baking. He then stopped the baking immediately. "Got it, Rem?" Rem nodded. Theo looked at the kitchen. There was something that seems to be missing. Then, Theo realized what is was. _"I almost forgot. They need a dishwasher machine as well. I must materialize one as well."_ With that, Theo made a dishwasher machine and placed it in the corner. He turned to Rem. "This right here is metia called a dishwasher. It can wash any type of kitchen utensil, or pot. The buttons you see here are in Lugnican. Just press them, and this thing will do it for you." Rem was awestruck. Subaru's world had so many things that made things much easier. First, Rem received the One Plus 6T from Tiffania. Now, the entire kitchen was modernized. Tiffania turned to Luctiana. "Luctiana-san, Emilia is going to be overwhelmed by this new technology. She and Ram will be completely lost." Luctiana chuckled. "I remember the same thing as well. When Saito introduced us to what he calls 'Magitek', we were completely lost too. All of us were lost. Once we got used to it though, it became a part of our everyday lives. These are things that we can't simply live without. I don't think I could go back to a time where stuff from Subaru's world wasn't accessible." Tiffania nodded in agreement. "That's right. This smartphone called the Note 9 is something that I have used for over two years now. It's a powerhouse." Subaru turned to Rem and the Zero no Tsukaima crew. He then took out his iPhone XR and showed it to them. "I remember when Emilia said that she was using a Conference Mirror when she visited the capital. She told me it was a metia that facilitates talking with someone, using two mirrors facing one another. Smartphones are conference mirrors on steroids. Not only you can talk with someone, you can use it as a computer, doing productivity tasks, and even some video gaming. Thanks to modern advances in science, smartphones have been getting better and better." Subaru turned to look at all of the modern kitchen appliances that Theo installed. Tiffania was wonder why Subaru had a flip phone in the first place. "Subaru-san? Why did you not have a smartphone in the first place?" Subaru turned to Tiffania. "I was a NEET, remember? We don't need smartphones to get though our everyday lives in Japan. All that we needed was video games and computers. Also, Japan is one of the last few countries to hold on to flip phones. Despite that, even that began to die off in Japan. Like many other countries from where I'm from, Japan's Metia market has now been dominated by smartphones. Flip phones are relics of the past. Who in the hell would use that outdated piece of junk?"

Theo shrugged at Subaru's comment. He noticed that the lanterns that were lit up was a blue color. "Rem-sama, can you tell me why the lanterns are blue?" Rem started to walk outside and looked at the lanterns. As Theo said, they were of a blue color. Rem turned back to Theo. "That color of the lamp tells us the time. Since it is in the first 6 hours of darkness, it is blue." Theo shook his head. _"I remember the way that we used to gage the time. That was far less precise than the modern methods we use now in the elven lands. Hours, minutes, seconds, and AM and PM are much better indicators of time."_ Theo, satisfied with the new technology in the kitchen, walked out. Subaru and everyone walked out of the kitchen. Their next destination to visit is to the dining room. As they were walking to the dining room, Theo told Rem about the way that time was measured in Subaru's place. "Rem, you know that we use a different measurement of time, right? You see those numbers at the top of your Metia One Plus 6T? That is how we measure time. It says on your phone that it is about 3:30 AM in the morning right now, indicating that we are about to approach dawn at six o clock." Rem took out her One Plus 6T and looked at her screen. Sure enough, the phone told Rem that it was around 3:30 AM. "I see. Ram should get a hold of this too. Let me show you to the kitchen anyways." Meanwhile, Tiffania looked around her as door upon door upon door lined the mansion. "I'm really going to get a walking exercise in this residence, aren't I?" They all eventually reached the dining room.

Tiffania was taken aback by the size of it. "Whoa. This is quite big for a dining room. Saito-san's place can't come close to the size of this room." In the room, there was a large table covered with a white tablecloth. On each side, there are several chairs. There was one lone light source in the middle of the table. The walls around were lined in green and has white spaces. Behind the table, there was a figure in a painting. Theo commented at the size of the room. "Quite a nice place to eat. Wait, how in the hell are were going to avoid Emilia? I don't think all six of us can keep up that act for long." Bidashal stepped in. "That's right. It will only be a matter of time before she finds us out here." Subaru sighed. "Well, I think Emilia-tan would be freaked out if she found out that there was another silver haired half-elf. You know, I can't be like Kirito in Sword Art Online who charges through things and everything goes his way. I have to conceal myself. I shouldn't be here in the first place. I broke a promise, something that is sacred to a Spirit Arts user. She won't be happy to see me back here." Luctiana shook her head. "Subaru, come on! You know that Emilia is a kind person. She'll be willing to hear your explanations. Didn't you say you loved her? Of course, I know that you love her. Maybe you were thinking of boning her as a way to rectify the promise that you have broken."

Subaru turned extremely red in embarrassment as his voice turned into that of annoyance. "Wha….What the?! Luctiana! This isn't the time to put out lewd jokes! What?! Did you think I also read hentai as well when I was a NEET?! You have got to be kidding me! I wasn't looking up Emilia on Rule 34!" Luctiana couldn't contain her laughter. It got louder and louder until it filled up the whole room. This earned her a slap on the back from her uncle, Bidashal. "Luctiana! Calm down! If you keep this up, you are going to wake Emilia and Ram! The last thing we want is for them to wake up from their sleep." Theo looked at the table itself. "So, Rem, do you really prepare the meals in the mansion, along with your sister Ram?" Rem bowed to Theo and nodded. "Yes, Theo-kun. This is where everyone eats for dinner, in the dinning room. Emilia-sama, Subaru-kun, Roswaal." Theo at this time was recalling Puck words that was said to Subaru in episode 17. _"And lastly, you let Lia die."_ Theo shook his head. _"No, that isn't true at all. Subaru was giving it all, to protect others, even when the odds are stacked. He is merely doing his best. That is what he does. I'm pretty sure that Edan understands that too. You can't just throw presumptions left and right, expecting the other person to understand."_

Theo was lost in his thoughts until Subaru called him out. "Uh, Theo-kun?! You seem quite distracted. Was there something that was bothering you?" Theo shook his head. "Subaru-kun, don't worry about it. I'll be fine." Subaru nodded. "With that dining room out of the way, I would like to show you the bathroom. And no, this isn't where you take a shit. This has a sauna in the middle." Tiffania perked up, as she heard Subaru's words. Back in Tristain, Tiffania remembered getting in a sauna, only to suffer a heat stroke. She had to be taken out of the sauna by Louise and Saito. "Subaru-san? I don't think I would get into a sauna. I suffered a heat stroke the last time I was in one." Subaru turned to Tiffania. "I see. It must have been because it was way too hot. Saunas aren't that bad. Come on. I'll show you the place." The Zero no Tsukaima crew followed Subaru to where the bathroom was located. Eventually, they reached the spot. Rem was standing behind them and simply watched as the half-elf began explaining the room. Rem looked at Subaru. She was having, quite the perverted thoughts about Subaru. He has gotten even better looking after becoming a half-elf. "As you can see, this is where you can use this place as a sauna. In the center of the room, there is a bath that has a golden pillar in the middle. I use this from time to time." Luctiana looked around and analyzed the bath. "This is quite a nice area to relax for the day. Hey, Tiffania and Theo, remember when there was a scene where Subaru showed his ding dong to Ram?"

That made Subaru blush in both embarrassment and anger. "You. SHUT UP! I don't want any rumors about my man size spreading around the mansion. If Emilia-tan hears about this…." Luctiana was giggling loudly. "Sorry, Subaru-kun. I got carried away." Subaru shook his head. "Anyways, now that is out of the way, I'll show you where the washbasin is. It is a place where you use it for personal hygiene and for doing your business. I won't say it because you know what I mean." Theo and everyone else followed Subaru. He showed them the washroom, which had a white washbasin, a toilet with a brown lid, and a mirror decorated with a golden frame. Theo was quite impressed at the size of the mansion. "I'm pretty sure that we will be able to make ourselves comfortable here." Subaru then closed the door that led to the washbasin and began making his way towards the entrance. He wanted to show them the garden. To check the time, Subaru pulled out his iPhone XR to check the clock. _"Looks like it is now 4:00 AM in the morning."_ He turned to the sky, which was still dark, but the first hints of lights began appearing in the horizon. "Follow me please. We also have a massive garden in the back." As they walked, Tiffania walked beside Subaru. "Subaru-san, what do you think of this place?" Subaru stopped in his tracks as he looked at the sky. "Tiffania-sama, this is my home. I've enjoyed this place and cherished it, even when I was gone to the capital to get treatment from Ferris. Emilia-tan must have been quite lonely without me all of this time. It may have been only 6 days, but for her, that is a long time. The only one that she has when I was gone is Puck, and that is her cat companion. Edan is my fox companion that tags along with me. He's more of a tease than Puck, and has more of an interests to try new things. He is also not afraid to vocalize his opinions. Right now, he is sleeping in the crystal as we speak." Subaru kept walking around the mansion until they reached the back. There was a garden that was full of grass, several paths that could be used to walk. There are also small fields full of flowers on the sides as well. There are large, as well as small trees. There are bushes as well. There are also places to rest. Bidashal looked around this garden. "This garden is huge, but I feel like that space is wasted. There could be something that can be placed there." Theo looked around as well. "I agree. There should be something here, but I don't know what we are going to do with this space." Tiffania looked at the space. Just then, she came up with an idea. "Maybe, just maybe, we can put some court here. We can materialize it."

 _ **A new tennis court and rooms for the elves**_

Subaru scolded Tiffania. "Materialize something? Can you guess what will happen if we put something there? Emilia-tan and Roswaal will rip us apart." Luctiana pouted. "Why? Come on! Can't we have at least something to play with? Like a modern sport? Like a tennis court." Subaru still objected to this. "Your idea is to put a tennis court in the middle of the garden?! How in the hell am I going to deal with this? I have only done kendo and tennis for a couple of years. Plus, I haven't played tennis in a long time. I'm going to be rusty as hell." Theo begged for Subaru's approval to put a tennis court. "Man, you are no fun. We need something to pass the time. Can you please allow me to materialize a tennis court?" Eventually, Subaru sighed. "Whatever. I'll explain this to Emilia-tan and the others." Theo's face perked up at the sight of this. "All right. Let me materialize a tennis court then. You gonna like this." Theo pulled out the Materializer from his elven storage. He choose to materialize a structure. He selected a tennis court. It then prompted Theo to scan the area by holding the Materializer up. He put it up, and there was a green beam that scanned the surroundings. It repeated for a couple of times until it was completed. At the screen, it told the following: "Surroundings are suitable for a tennis court. Materialize it now?" Theo pressed materialize. As he did that, the garden began to glow in a bright green color. Eventually, there was a tennis court in the garden. There was four lights that surrounded the tennis court. Subaru looked at the tennis court. "Incredible. Look at that beauty." It was a normal blue hard court with a net. There was also a fence that was there so that the ball won't come out. Theo turned to Subaru and the others. "There is also a scoreboard that is included, a serve speed meter, and a bench on both sides so that you guys can watch us play. The calls are automatically done by an AI, so we don't need any line judges or umpires. We designed this in our elven research, as tennis became the biggest recreational sport in both Tristain and the elven lands. I guess you can also say that this right here is the first modern sport in the history of Lugnica." Subaru was wondering how the people in the mansion will react to this. _"I wonder what Emilia-tan would think of this sport called tennis. When I was younger, I used to play some tennis with my father, Kenichi. I wasn't the best at it, but I wanted to play like Roger Federer. I've always preferred to serve and volley as my play style. It is something that I like to play as. There is much risk when going for this playstyle, but the rewards for doing it are tremendous. For example, I have seen players rush the net and attack, taking away time for the other opponents."_

Theo waved his hand at Subaru. "Subaru….Hello? Are you there? Hello? Otaku-kun?" Subaru snapped out of it. He scratched his head. "Sorry Theo-san. I was just admiring the tennis court here." He then turned to Rem, who was speechless. She saw a structure appear right in front of her eyes. It was unlike anything she has seen before. Not only could the elves materialize objects, they can materialize massive structures as well. "Subaru-kun, what is that thing over in the garden?" Subaru looked, then turned to Rem. "Well, that right there is what is known as a tennis court, Rem. From where I came from, it is a sport that is played by a lot of people, both at the recreational and at the professional level. There is money on the line, and they draw in hundreds of thousands of spectators to watch these great matches unfold." Rem was surprised. If that was the case, then it would the equivalent of Lugnica's entire capital population visiting the sporting event. "It must have been quite prestigious, Subaru-kun." Subaru nodded. "Well, I think there is one last thing to show our new members of Emilia-tan's faction. Since you are staying here, we should show you where you will be staying. Rem, please show them the rooms they will be staying in." Rem began to make her way back into the mansion, "Theo, Tiffania, Bidashal, and Luctiana, follow me. I'll be showing you the place you will be sleeping. Also Subaru-kun, follow me. You will also be moving permanently into a bigger room. It'll be a surprise." Subaru was confused on what Rem was trying to say. "Rem? What do you mean a bigger room? I thought mine was good enough." They all made their way back in the mansion, and Rem began to show them the rooms. All of the rooms that they were staying in looked like Subaru's room. It is a room with a twin sized bed, a night stand, and a desk at the side. There was a door to the right in each room, leading to a full size bathroom. Luctiana groaned. "This small of a bed?! You have got to be kidding me!" Bidashal scolded his nephew. "Luctiana! Stop being so whiny! Be glad that you had a bed in the first place." Next, Bidashal was shown another room that was going to be his sleeping room. "Not bad Rem. I think this is fine for me." Rem simply bowed in respect to Bidashal. Theo was the next to see his room, and as he thought, it was the same as Subaru's. He didn't need to say anything, because he is already grateful that he has a place to stay. Tiffania, the half-elf, saw her room also. She was jumping up and down at the fact that she has a place to sleep. Like before, she is still a little naïve. "Thank you Rem! I can do what I want here, in this room." Rem nodded, then turned to Subaru. "Subaru-kun, it's time to show the room you will be moving to from here on out." Subaru perked up. "Huh?!" She turned to the others. "Wait here, I have to show Subaru-kun something important." They all stayed here while Subaru tagged along with Rem.

They passed by Subaru's former room. The half-elf looked into his room. "So this is no longer my room." Rem nodded. "Correct, Subaru-kun. This here is now an empty guest room." Rem then went up the stairs. Subaru thought that Rem was going too fast. "Wait, Rem. Where are you taking me?" Rem let out a small giggle. "A room where you will be staying in from now on when you get your sleep." They reached one of the upper floors." Eventually, they passed by Emilia's room. Subaru was getting curious. "Rem! This is Emilia-tan's room! What in the world are you doing?" Rem replied quietly. "There is another room I want to show you. It's right next to Emilia-sama's room." Subaru looked back. He was wondering about the situation that happened to him in the previous loop. _"That was in a previous loop, where Emilia-tan…no. I'll pretend it never happened. That timeline can go to hell."_ Rem opened the door to the room that was right next to Emilia's. Subaru was taken aback. This room was an exact mirror image of Emilia's room. Every single bit. From the queen sized bed, to the tables in the middle of the room with the two tables, to the desk in the back with the green cover and a golden finish. Even the carpet was in this room as well. Subaru walked into the room. There was even a book case, which was empty. Subaru even went to the other door and opening it, revealing a bathroom which was a lot bigger that the one that he had used before. Apparently, this room wasn't even used at all. Subaru looked at the lamp that was above the door. It was still blue right now, indicating that it was still in the early morning. Subaru got out his iPhone XR to check the time. It was now getting close to 5:00 AM in the morning. The sun was at the early stages of rising up. He was beyond excited right now, even though he didn't want Emilia-tan to see him like this. Rem put her hand out. "As you can see, Subaru-kun, this is now your bedroom from here on out." Subaru was in a state of excitement. Never in his wildest dreams that he would have his room right next to Emilia. _"My room, right next to Emilia-tan?! A massive room upgrade! Look at all of the room here! Yes! Though it is going to be a lot harder to make sure that Emilia-tan does not spot us, I am nevertheless happy."_ Rem watched as Subaru jumped in excitement from being right next to Emilia's room. It took him 15 minutes to calm down. He was lucky that didn't wake up anyone. Subaru analyzed his things. "Ah! I see. Let me get set up here." Subaru walked to the desk and pulled out his Dell G7 gaming laptop. "This is going to be my computer desk, Rem. I'll be researching about possible new technologies and metias that we can import from Japan. It's my new role now. I am stepping down as a butler." Subaru then materialized an LG OLED 4K TV after doing some quick research for the 4K TV. "Rem, what you see that is materialized is what is call a TV. These things are common place in Japan. They serve as an image display for other things." Rem nodded. It was a 65 inch 4K TV. Back in Subaru's world, he could dream of having a TV this big and advanced.

 ** _Room Renovations_**

Subaru tried to figure out what should he put in his new room. _"I am a gamer, so I don't want to abandon that hobby. I'm going to show that you can game and help out Emilia-tan at the same time. Now, to see which console and games are the hot topic right now."_ Once again, Subaru pulled out his iPhone XR. There, he found out that the PS4 Pro was the hottest console in Japan. A grin formed on Subaru's face, and he went out to materialize a desk for his console and his games. In a matter of minutes, Subaru was able to place a 4K LG OLED TV on the table, followed by a PS4 Pro. He also managed to grab Black Ops 4 Digital Deluxe edition as well. To top it off, Subaru also used his Materializer to put a gaming table there. Meanwhile, the Zero no Tsukaima crew are standing there, talking about their new home. Theo was already liking this place. "This place is cozy for me. I think I can get used to this mansion. Also, what the hell is Subaru doing with Rem right now? They haven't told us where they are." Luctiana tried to hear some sounds. She found it. "Looks like they are upstairs as we speak. Shall we go up there?" Tiffania agreed. "Yes, we should check Subaru-san out." With that, they made their way upstairs to where Subaru and Rem are at. When they got there, Theo saw that Subaru materialized a TV. He shook Subaru. "Hey there! Subaru, you materialized an OLED 4K TV and a gaming console?! What, don't tell me that you are regressing back to becoming a NEET again?" Subaru face palmed. "You know, Theo, people can have hobbies you know. In the real world, that is what people are. We aren't robots you know. We have to relax sometimes. This right here is my way to relax kind of thing, along with my phone and by computer. There is nothing wrong with that." Luctiana shrugged. "Now that we know where we are staying, can we do something useful? Like playing tennis?" Subaru sighed. Even though it was early in the morning, he had to admit, being a butler has started to bore him. With that in mind, Subaru turned to everyone who was in his new room. "Guys, I have made a decision. The half-elf named Subaru Natsuki is going to go play some tennis with all of you. Let's get the rackets ready to go!" Everyone around Subaru was happy that they were going to play some tennis. Even Rem was kind of curious as well. They made their way out of the mansion and got to the tennis court out in the garden. Rem sat on one of the benches as Subaru, Theo, Bidashal, and Luctiana got ready. Subaru materialized his own racquet, which was a Wilson 90 square inch racquet. He felt the racquet, since he hadn't touched one in a long time. He dreamed of playing tennis like Roger Federer, but decided to be a NEET instead, wasting is time away solely for the fact that he thinks his father is better than him.

Subaru observed his racquet. He began to swing his forehand and backhand. Amazingly, he swung the ball like Roger Federer when he was practicing his swings. Theo commented at what Subaru was doing. "So Subaru, you may haven't realize it yet, but you are swinging the ball like Roger Federer. I have no idea on how, but I think I may have given you the knowledge to play like Federer." Subaru was confused, but then realized that Theo was right. It somehow felt smooth to him. He got his racquet ready as well, which was a Wilson 95 square inch racquet. He also materialized several cans of tennis balls with his materializer. Theo got the balls out and was ready to start the warm up with Subaru. Subaru was on the other side. "Subaru, ready to start warming up?" Subaru gave him the nod. "I'm ready, Theo." He started to feed the ball to Subaru. The tennis ball bounced quite high, which Subaru did a forehand to make contact with the ball. Unfortunately, the racquet frame hit the ball, which caused a massive shank that sent the ball flying upwards, than back down. Theo couldn't stop laughing. Bidashal, Tiffania, Luctiana, and Rem were also laughing at Subaru's failed attempt to hit the ball. At first, it was a giggle, then was a full blown laughter that could have woken up the entire mansion if they were in there. Subaru scratched his head. "Give me some slack! I haven't played in quite a while. It'll be several tries before I get my groundstrokes down." Theo fed him another ball, which this time resulted in a successful return from Subaru with his forehand. He turned back with a two handed backhand, which forced Subaru to side step into the ball with his one handed backhand. When he did, the ball went careening into the net. "Damn! Come on!" Subaru shouted at himself. Both Bidashal and Rem watched as the warm up ramped up. "Subaru-kun is quite fast. Look at the way he moves. He moves like the wind."

Bidashal nodded. "It seems that Subaru had picked up the skills of a professional tennis player. I'll be interested to see how he decides to play." Tiffania and Luctiana were ready, and they joined Subaru and Theo. Tiffania was on Subaru's team, and Luctiana was on Theo's team. They warmed up, for around 30 minutes. As it went on, Subaru's forehand got better and better, along with his backhand and volleys. Rem was amazed at Subaru's reflexes and eye coordination, and the way he moves. "It seems like Subaru's reaction speed is a lot faster ever since he became a half-elf. His movement has also been quicker as well." Bidashal. "That is one of the benefits of being a demi-human. As an elf or half-elf, they have faster reflexes and better movement when compared to humans." Rem nodded. "Just like Emilia-sama. Subaru-kun is both master and servant at the same time." Bidashal nodded. Theo stopped feeding the ball. "All right, it's time to start practicing serves. Subaru, I'm going give you several balls. Your job is to serve an ace, or set up for an easily return. Also, treat it as if it was a tennis match. You have two serves per side." Subaru nodded. "Okay, Theo-san, let's do this." Rem was wondering what this sport is. "So, what is tennis exactly, Bidashal-sama?" Bidashal looked at the elves and Subaru who were having fun. "Rem, it goes like this. Tennis is a sport where you have to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is unable to return in a proper manner. The person that is able to do this wins a point. There are four points in what is called a game. It goes from: 15, 30, and 40. If the other opponent reaches 40, it goes to deuce. Of course, if they win a point at deuce, it goes to advantage. If it goes to advantage, that person who wins the point again wins the game. There are six games in a set. It is normally played in the best of three or five sets. For this match, they will play in the best of three sets. In other words, either team will have to win two sets to win the match." Rem was confused. "I didn't quite catch all of that, Bidashal-sama." Bidashal pointed at the court. "Just watch and see how it is played." When Subaru was about to test his first serve, Theo stopped him. "Wait Subaru! There is one more thing I have to tell you!" Subaru stopped his serving motion. "What is it, Theo-san?" Theo cleared his throat. "There is also a timer and the clock which tells us the time for the match. Wait while I turn on the serve speed indicator." Subaru did exactly as he was told and waited until the serve speed indicator was on.

 _ **A tennis match practice: Subaru and Tiffania vs Theo and Luctiana**_

"All right, serve speed indicator is on. Line call is still off though, since we are practicing." Subaru simple nodded. "Here goes nothing. Theo, you'll be receiving first." Just then, Subaru tossed the ball out and over his head. His serve was exactly like Federer's serve in 1999. Theo waited for the serve. Subaru's racquet made contact with the ball. It shot out at 132 MPH, but it landed outside the box. Theo raised his finger up, indicating to Subaru that the first ball is long. Subaru shook his head. _"Ugh, it went out. Though for some reason, my arms feel light, and I just hit a bullet without any effort at all. Time for my second serve."_ Subaru tossed the ball up once again. His racquet made contact with the ball. This time, the ball kicked much higher, and it was slower, at 115 MPH. It was a body shot that Theo had to block with his forehand. _"Subaru, slow the fuck down! Damn! You serve quite hard."_ The ball went up, meaning that Subaru knew that he had to step in to put in away in a volley. He did exactly that, and executed a sharp angled volley that neither Luctiana nor Theo were able to reach. Rem and Bidashal clapped at Subaru's shot." Subaru then went to the other side. Luctiana was at the receiving end of Subaru's first serve. Once again, Subaru tossed the ball up and hit a really hard flat serve. This landed in the middle of the T, marking Subaru Natsuki's first ace. Even Luctiana couldn't react in time. Rem shook her head. _"That was ridiculous, coming from Subaru. That ball flew so fast."_ Bidashal looked at the way he played. _"I can tell, Subaru-kun is in total beast mode right now. Both Theo and Luctiana have no chance if Subaru is playing this good. This is actually pretty scary on how well he hits the ball."_

Subaru looked at serve speed. It told Subaru served a ball that clocked in at 135 MPH. Now, it was time for Theo to serve. He warned Subaru. "Now it's my turn to serve. Get ready to feel the pain!" Subaru got ready. Theo tossed his serve up like Tomas Berdych, and hit a really hard serve at 140 MPH. Subaru tried to get his racquet on it. He managed to do that, but the recoil from the ball caused the ball to go out. _"Jeez. I thought I served hard. That is quite brutal."_ Theo wiggled his finger at Subaru. "Don't say I didn't warned you, Subaru. Perhaps that NEET life made you unable to play proper tennis." Subaru got annoyed at Theo. "You dare to trash talk me about my NEET life?! All right, it's on Theo! I won't show any mercy at you in this tennis match." It was now Tiffania's turn to practice her serves. "Okay, here it comes, Theo-san!" Tiffania tossed the ball up. Her serve was exactly like Serena William's serve. The first one attempt to hit the T at 121 MPH, but caught the net instead. Tiffania went for her second serve, and hit a kick serve at 109 MPH to Theo, who counters with a two handed backhand. The ball went to Subaru, who returned it with a slice to lure Luctiana in. She saw it coming, and pushed a lob over Subaru's head, which Tiffania saw, and tried to hit a running forehand, but she shacked the ball, causing it to go high above the court. Theo saw this as an easy put away, and went in for an easy smash.

Subaru noted his mistake. _"I got too close, opening an opportunity for Luctiana to set up a lob shot which caused Tiffania to shank the shot."_ Tiffania was apologetic. "Sorry, Subaru-san." It was now about 5:45 in the morning. The sunrise was approaching. Subaru looked at the sky, which was a faint orange color. Tiffania switched spots with Subaru, serving to Luctiana this time. Tiffania went for her first serve once again. She tossed the ball up, this time, her first serve was 123 MPH, but landed out. Tiffania then tried for her second serve, only for the ball to clip into a net. It was the 105 MPH serve that almost cleared the net. It was the first double fault of the practice session. Luctiana was the next to serve as well. Both of her serves got in, and clocked about 115-120 MPH respectively. The numerous rallies back and forward and the shot making made Rem on the edge of her heels. She never knew what shot is going to be played next, or who was going to win the next point. At last, it was about 6:00 AM. Theo announced to Subaru that they were going to start the tennis match right how. He got to the scoreboard, and turned on the AI line judge and the scoreboard as well, which had the match time. Also, the scoreboard was in Lugnican as well, meaning that Rem could read it. Its LED lights were quite bright. Rem, not knowing what that thing does, pointed at the Metia. "Bidashal, what is that Metia right there?" Bidashal looked at the scoreboard before replying back. "Rem, that thing right there is what we call a scoreboard. It keeps track of all of the scores between players. In this instances, it is keeping track of Subaru's and Theo's team. It's a battle of the elves vs the half-elves. We'll see who is going to top the match for this one."

 _ **The first (of many) matches in Emilia's camp**_

As usual, the match begins by Theo doing a coin toss. Subaru was aware of it. "I'll pick heads." Theo nodded and flip the coin. It landed on heads. "Subaru-kun, you picked the right side. Now, do you want to receive serve or serve?" Subaru thought for a few moments. He wanted to serve first to get an early lead. "I'll serve. Good luck to all of you. Please do your very best!" They all went in the doubles formation, and the tennis match was underway. Within the first minute, Subaru had already held serve. He fired a combination of first serve aces and second serves that kicked out wide. Now, it was Theo's turn to serve. Despite throwing the kitchen sink at Subaru, his team was broken at 30-40 when he double faulted. This gave Subaru the early break. Tiffania also served flawlessly, constantly on the attack with her booming serves and groundstokes. This put massive pressure on Theo and Luctiana, who were prone to making errors. Now, it was 3-1. Luctiana managed to get to 40-15 with her serve placement and drop shots, but Subaru managed to fire two down the line backhand winners due to Luctiana's weaker second serve. It was deuce. Subaru was waiting on the return for her serve. Luctiana served at 120 MPH wide, which Subaru netted with his forehand. It was now advantage. She aced Tiffania next down the T, making the score to be 3-2 now. The serve was back to Subaru. As he did before, he kept flicking first serves at 130-135 MPH, while hitting second serves ranging from 115-120 MPH, sometimes, even landing second serve aces. Both Luctiana and Theo were bewildered at how each time they tried to fire a forehand/backhand at Subaru, he merely countered with winners from ridiculous angles. Bidashal watched in amazement. _"Subaru is in beast mode right now. If Theo and Luctiana don't their shit together, the match could very well be over in a matter of an hour."_ Score was now 4-2. Theo was serving 130 MPH bombs left and right, but Subaru was in beast mode, blocking them back and turning defense into offense. The first was a backhand on a 130 MPH serve, which blitzed fast at 100 MPH. He had now created three break point opportunities.

Theo was starting to lose his cool at this point. No matter what he did, Subaru returned them with no effort. It was as if the same Subaru that he saw in the anime was a completely different Subaru. This Subaru was completely on fire. Theo did his first serve at 130 MPH right next to the T, which Subaru blocked using a backhand position. Theo then fired off a forehand to the other side of the court, which Subaru ran over and did a cheeky cross court forehand down the line. Luctiana tried to reach for the ball, but it went by so fast that she couldn't respond in time. "Fuck! Subaru-kun, are you taking Mountain Dew or something!? This is embarrassing!" Theo was about to slam his racquet into the ground after he got broken at 4-2 in the opening set. Now, it was about 6:30 AM in the afternoon, with Tiffania serving for the set. She had no problems as well, with the only issue being that she hit a ball out at 40-love while returning Theo's massive forehand. Despite this setback, Tiffania was able to close the set at 6-2. Rem watched the scoreboard, with the half-elven team taking the first set 6-2. It was largely the same story as well in the next set, with them only winning one more game than the first set. At 5-3 in the second set, Subaru was serving for the match. He dominated the states, with a few unforced errors, and many winners. On top of that, Subaru had not double faulted as of yet. The first serve was an ace at 135 MPH, right down the T.

The AI voice went with the following: "15 love." Subaru then moved to the other side to serve to Luctiana. He did his first serve, which landed out. An alarm indicated that Subaru had struck the ball out. It then followed by the word. "Fault!" Subaru then went for another Roger Federer serve, which he grunted as he struck the ball. "Aaaaah!" This one was a 113 MPH topspin serve to Luctiana's body. She decided to take the risk and took the serve on the rise. It was successful, which forced Subaru to play a weaker forehand, which then set Luctiana up for a volley winner that Subaru couldn't get to. Once again, the robotic voice indicated the score. "15 all." Subaru then in turn followed it up with a 130 MPH serve, which Theo got his forehand out. Subaru rushed up into the net and played a half volley. "30-15." Rem watched the match, along with Bidashal. "Subaru-kun is about to win with Tiffania, is that right?" Bidashal nodded. "Yeah, after 1 hour and 5 minutes, it seems like the end is really near. Besides, the sun has begun to rise in the horizon. The sky is bright orange as we speak." Subaru faulted another 135 MPH bomb into the net, but was able to ace Luctiana down the middle when he serve a massive 120 MPH serve that bounced really high. Luctiana shook her head. _"I can't compete with this shit right here. Subaru is simply too good right now."_

It was now 40-15. Subaru Natsuki has two match points on his serve. Rem looked at the scoreboard. In Lugnican, the following information was taken on the board: "6-2, 5-3, 40-15. Match time: 1:10. Match Point: Subaru Natsuki/Tiffania Westwood." Subaru then took a final serve on his Wilson 90 square inch racquet, serving 131 MPH. Theo tried to hit the ball, but he sends it flying out of bounds. It was over, Subaru and Tiffania had won the match. The AI voice indicated the end of the match. "Game, set, and match, Natsuki Subaru/Tiffania Westwood. Two sets to love, 6-2, 6-3." As usual, Subaru and Tiffania got up to shake hands with Theo and Luctiana. "Great game. You played well, Subaru-kun." Theo said. Luctiana also commented on his skills as well. "Subaru, you played like an absolute beast. There was little that we could do to beat your team." Subaru shrugged. "It's nothing. What's important is that you had fun playing tennis with me and Tiffania-san." Luctiana nodded. Rem was tried to thinking about what had just happened right in front of her. This sport called tennis was something that she wished that she could show to Ram and Emilia. The way that Subaru moved was ridiculous. Theo was kind of bitter that he lost the match against Subaru. Bidashal noticed that. "What's the matter Theo? Did an ex-NEET kicked your ass in tennis after you taunted him about the way he lived in Japan? That's karma right there." Theo was not in the happiest mood at this point. He stomped his feat in frustration. "Kuso! I haven't had a tennis match where I had been humiliated in such a long time. To think that an Otaku thrashed me in tennis is simply embarrassing. Damnit!" Bidashal looked at him. _"Now you are just acting like Subaru when he went full retard in episode 13. Emilia would be embarrassed to have a father like this."_ Meanwhile, Subaru looked at the time on his iPhone XR. _"Seven in the morning, and the sun has begun to rise. We don't have much time. Emilia-tan is going to wake up around 2-3 hours for now. If we want to hide from Emilia-tan, we have to eat now."_ Rem was also getting hungry as well. "Everyone, we have to eat breakfast. I'll be preparing you all the breakfast at the kitchen." Tiffania's stomach grumbled. "Rem-san, I think we should eat as well." Eventually, everyone nodded. Theo went to reset the scoreboard and to turn off the scoring, the AI line judge system, and the serve speed system. They all put their racquets and balls back in their elven storage. As they made their way back into the mansion, Subaru simply looked at the iPhone XR as they headed back towards the dining room. Rem was using Google Assistant at this time to craft a breakfast, which everyone accepted but Subaru. He wanted a Japanese breakfast, as he hadn't had that in a really long time. They waited for their food in the room.

 ** _Breakfast_**

Subaru meanwhile thought of a food that he wanted to eat from Japan. Then, an idea struck to him. _"That's right. I would like to have natto, fried eggs and rice with some green tea. Also I would like miso soup along with the natto as well. That will do."_ With that in mind, Subaru pulled out his Materializer and popped in all of this stuff. While Rem was cooking, the elves from Zero no Tsukaima looked at Subaru. He began to speak. "After quite a while, we have defeated the Witch Cult, for now. They may be more members at hand around Lugnica, but we will take them out if they even dare touch Emilia-tan. Bidashal, thanks to your Magitek, we were able to crush the White Whale." Tiffania sand raised her hand. "Subaru-san, what you going to do? Are you really going to keep up that 'Hide from Emilia-tan' thing going on?" Subaru nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to. I don't want to scare her off with my appearance." Luctiana jumped in. "I see. You want her not to see you back in the mansion. Says the guy who keeps Rule 34 pictures on Emilia on his smartphone." Subaru pointed his finger at Luctiana. "Hentai images of Emilia?! Don't be ridiculous! I'd rather die than let you see that I have nude pictures of Emilia-tan!" Subaru's words slipped. He covered his mouth. Luctiana clamped her hands in laughter. "Did you hear that? Not only he said 'I love Emilia', he also said that he had nude pictures of Emilia as well! I bet he also thought about fucking Emilia too! We should let the entire capital of Lugnica know about that too!" Theo started to giggle, then he busted in laughter. Pretty soon, the entire room was in roaring laughter.

Subaru's face turned so red that he put his face on the table in embarrassment _. "This is going to be such a long day."_ Meanwhile, Rem finished the breakfast, which consisted of salad, soup, and some bread. For some strange reason, as Rem walked towards the dining room with the cart, there was laughter that kept getting louder and louder. She opened the door to find out a scene where Subaru was faced down in embarrassment, and Theo, Luctiana, Tiffania, and even Bidashal laughing uncontrollably. Theo was unable to hold back his tears of laughter. "I never thought that Subaru had a dirty mind for my daughter as well. You naughty boy! HAHAHAHAHA. I knew it. Subaru had a thing for hentai when he was a NEET. He probably wanked off to Emilia in his room too." Subaru's face became even redder, he didn't have a thing to say. Unfortunately, Theo was actually right. They were able to figure out that Subaru had a fantasy for Emilia. Rem felt sorry for Subaru as he was embarrassed by the Zero no Tsukaima crew. They had to take about ten minutes to calm down. By now. Subaru pointed his finger at Luctiana. "Don't you DARE tell this to Emilia-tan. You will be dead if you do."

Luctiana gulped at Subaru's threatening voice. She shuttered. "Okay, I promise that I won't do it." This was the first promise that Subaru has made as a Spirit Arts user. Rem gave everyone a pile of food, except for Subaru, because he already has one. "Let's eat now. We can rest. I would also like to make another announcement. Starting tomorrow, I'll be forming a group in this mansion, called the Republic of Gamers. I heard about Fortnite and its endeavors. It will be a two hour session where a group of four will play Fortnite. I want to see how many times we can get in first place. Plus, it'll be some fun." Just then, Tiffania raised her hand, as well as Luctiana. "Count me in, Subaru-san! Luctiana wants to be in too! We are going to kick some Fortnite butt!" Bidashal raised his hand too. "I'll be joining the gaming club as well. We would welcome you for sure in our team. I'm pretty sure you'll do fine." Subaru looked at the picture on the wall, then back at Bidashal. "Well, back then, in Japan. I've only played mostly single player games. I'm really good at them. However, I'm not really sure how good I'll be playing against other people. I might be the one who is dragging you all down, when you are giving your best in game." That was when Tiffania put her hand on Subaru's shoulder. A half-elf comforting the newly turned half-elf. "Well, Subaru-san, there is a first for everything. When we first played, we were really bad at the game. As we played on, we got better and better. What matters is that we have fun in game, and not care about our stats. We'll be waiting for you on Fortnite while you create an account so you can play with us." Subaru simply nodded. Rem gave out all of the food and the meals. Subaru dug into his meal, finishing it in twenty minutes. As the group was eating, the room talked about the mansion layout and how they were going to install a gaming room of sorts. Theo was the one that proposed this idea of gaming room. "I suggest that we install a gaming room of sorts, where we can play on the PC's." Subaru didn't agree with this. "Probably not. We'll have to figure out where to put it first. Also, I'm not sure if Emilia-tan is going to approve of this." Subaru looked at the time again. It was now 8:20 PM, and it was now morning. "Rem, do you know what time Emilia-tan wakes up?" Rem looked at Subaru. "I don't know when, but she wakes up at around 9-10 o'clock. If you want to hide from Emilia-sama, you better hurry up." Subaru looked at the Zero no Tsukaima crew. "Shit! Let's finish eating now!" They took another twenty minutes to finish their meals. When it was done, Subaru told them to go their rooms. Subaru himself got ready for what he is about to do.

 _ **Emilia-tan's room**_

Rem also went to her room as well. They were all in a text group using Discord as a medium. Subaru kept in touch with them in Japanese. "Emilia-tan is about to wake up. Whew, that was a close one." He was careful that he was able not make noise right outside, as his room was right by Emilia's. Subaru walked to his room and setup his laptop there. The first thing that Subaru did was to update everything that needed to be updated. Secondly, he also turned on the TV and set it up to the point that it would be ready for 4K. He also set up his PS4 Pro and installed Black Ops 4. By this time, it was about 9:30 PM. Subaru was in contact with the Zero no Tsuakima crew, and with Rem. Just then, Edan, Subaru's fox familiar, popped out from him. "Hello there! Suba! You have returned to the mansion. That must have been quite the fight the White Whale and the Witch Cult!" He looked at the technology that Subaru installed. "I see that you have also put in stuff from your place. Maybe so that you won't get bored with it. Oh, wait a minute, I sense something come from Emilia's room. Wait, Suba, Emilia is waking up. Puck is also up as well." Subaru's eyes perked up from his desk. The sky was bright blue now, indicating that it was well into the morning. "Edan! Tell me what is going on." The fox closed his eyes. "One of my enhancements is to be able to amplify sounds coming from other places. I'll let you listen." Sure enough, Subaru began to listen to what was going on in the other room. The first voice he heard was Puck's. _"Lia…your forehand is all wrinkled."_ Then, a familiar voice came though. There was no doubt, it was Emilia-tan's voice. _"Emilia-tan…"_ Subaru thought. Meanwhile, Emilia was talking to Puck. _"Good morning, Puck. You're up early today."_ Puck replied back to Emilia. _"Morning, Lia. I thought I'd give the whole 'Early to bed, early to rise" thing a shot."_ Subaru chuckled. "Heh. I'm the complete opposite. I am no way in hell an early bird. I've always been a night owl type of guy." Subaru kept on listening to Puck.

 _"Well, just kidding. The truth is that I was worried about you. You had it rough lately. Especially yesterday…"_ Subaru was wondering something. _"Yesterday? That's right. Emilia-tan went to the village._ " He kept listening. _"It was nothing I didn't know already."_ Subaru's expression became sorrowful. He closed his eyes. _"To think that Emilia-tan is badly suffering from the discrimination. I have no words for this. She has to endure this over and over again, while I was gone as well."_ Edan was also listening as well. _"I agree Suba. It is clear by her voice that she is affected by the constant irks of the people."_ Puck meanwhile kept going. _"Even if you know you'll fall, when it happens, that doesn't stop it from hurting or bleeding."_ Subaru nodded at Puck's statement. _"He's right. That same thing can apply to me as well when I was dying. Even when you know you can die, it is always frightening, even if it is like a savestate."_ Emilia was conversing with Puck. _"What do you think I should do, Puck? No, not just me…How can I be better to everyone, and have them be better to me?"_ Subaru kept listening. _"That's why I feel in love with her. She's kind, and makes people feel like they are not indebted to her. Even as she has received hatred from other people. And even if you got in a fight, she is able to form a contract so that your gate, well mine, can be healed by Ferris."_ Subaru was tuning in to Puck's voice. " _I think you should do what you want. I'll be on your side, no matter what you do. And no matter what, you can't abandon that village, right? Early this morning, Ram headed back out there. Maybe we should wait to hear from her."_ Subaru can hear Emilia getting out of bed. Puck continued. _"I'm going to check on Betty."_ Emilia replied. _"Oh…Okay. Let her know I said hello."_ That was when Subaru heard Emilia exit her room, and shut the door behind her. Subaru texted on his iPhone XR on his Discord group. _"Okay, Emilia-tan has left her room. I'm safe from long."_ Theo replied back on his Note 9. _"How long can you keep this up for? Eventually, Emilia will see you. You can't keep hiding yourself from her. It's pointless! You are only making a fool out of yourself!"_ Subaru sighed. Another response came from Bidashal. _"He's right, Subaru. You can't really run from this. From Emilia. She needs you…Subaru. I know that, we know that, you know that."_

Subaru looked at the time. It was now about 11:00 AM. By now, Emilia already brushed her teeth and was eating at the place where Subaru and the crew were eating around 3 hours ago. Subaru walked to his table and got on his computer. He materialized some glasses that are purely aesthetic. Edan was wondering what in the world was Subaru doing. "Suba, what are those glasses are going to be used for?" Subaru turned to Edan. "These are glasses as for the purpose of facial concealment. Just in case Emilia-tan sees me. Also makes me look smart too." Edan's face formed into a deadpan. "That thing? Seriously. Suba, it's going to be a dead giveaway to who you are. Your voice is going to give you away. I bet Puck will read right through it." Subaru shook his head. "I'll just have to keep quiet." Edan shook his head. "Yeah right. I know you Suba. You like to speak loud. You'll be dying to speak to Emilia. And then, you will eventually, get busy with her." Subaru glared at Edan. "She doesn't know what that is yet! I can't just do that!" Edan giggled. "Just teasing you, Suba." Subaru shrugged. He put on his glasses and looked at his armor. "This armor has to come out." With that, Subaru took off his armor clothing and used his materializer for new clothes. First, he got a leather jacket. It was black in color, and it Emilia's pin on the left Secondly, he got a shirt, also from the materializer. It had a picture of Emilia on it. He then got skinny jeans as well. Finally, he got neon blue shoes. Subaru decided to take off everything and hang his armor clothing in a closet. Subaru put on those clothes. This new clothes emphasized Subaru's slender appearance, along with his skinny jeans. The neon shoes glowed blue. Subaru liked it. "Hey Edan! How do I look to you? I bet that this is going to impress Emilia-tan!" Subaru then did a moonwalk and a rapid spin in his room, transitioning into a toe stand. Edan clamped his paws. "You look quite stunning Subaru." However, Subaru felt that something was missing. He walked to the bathroom, despite his silver hair and blue eyes, he did not like his current hair style. "Edan? Can you do hairstyles like Puck?" The fox nodded. "Sure can do Suba! Just show me which hair style you want and I can do it for you!" Subaru pulled out his iPhone XR and went to show Edan Kirito's GGO avatar hairstyle. The fox went to get a closer look at the hair. Eventually, he saw that and a brief dark flash engulfed Subaru. In an instant, Subaru's hairstyle was exactly like Kirito's GGO avatar. His hair was also the exact same length as well. "Much better, Edan. I'll notify the others that it is clear to come out." Subaru walked out of the bathroom and turned off the lights, followed by him closing the door. He texted on his Discord. "It's okay to come out. Emilia-tan is eating right now. With that, Theo, Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal walked out of their rooms and they met up Subaru in his room. Rem also joined the crew as well. "So what are we going to do next in your plan?"

 _ **Emilia's daily routine**_

Subaru looked at them. He then looked at his phone to check the time, it was about 12:30 AM. Suddenly, he realized something. "Oh shit! Ram may have went into the kitchen when she was preparing yams. Rem, go tell Ram. She'll be confused." Rem nodded and ran back down to confront Ram. There, Rem told Ram about what happened in the two days, and she also told Ram what Subaru was going to do. Basically, she told Ram to keep it a secret and pretend that Subaru and Rem have returned to the mansion. Rem also told Ram how to operate the new devices in the mansion. Rem said that it was a present from one of Subaru's well known friends. She complied with her sister. Subaru was waiting for Rem right next to his room. "So, what did Ram say?" Rem formed a smile on her face. "Subaru-kun, Ram has agreed to keep you return to the mansion as a secret. However, she also said that it is foolish to keep hiding from Emilia-sama. Ram said that the following: 'Tell Barasu that it's only a matter of time before she knows that you are here. So stop playing this game of cat and mouse.'" Subaru simply walked to the window and look out. "I know. Eventually, I'll have to show this to her." It was now 1:00 PM in the afternoon, and Emilia made her way to the front of the mansion to begin talking with the lesser spirits. She was giving out a glow that was similar to Subaru. Tiffania also noticed that as well. She turned to Subaru. "Subaru-san, can you tell me what Emilia is doing right now?" Subaru looked at Emilia. "That is what is called making contact with lesser spirits. She does this every afternoon." Theo walked forward. For the very first time, he saw his daughter, grown up with his own eyes. Her beautiful features, her silver hair, her white rose, her hairpin. There was no doubt. It was Emilia. His eyes teared up. Theo was happy to see his daughter after 107 long years. He excused himself to his room as Subaru watch Theo closed the door. Sobbing could be heard coming from the room.

Subaru looked at the door. "Theo finally saw his daughter for the first time. I'm truly glad of that." Bidashal wanted to ask Subaru something. "So, does she do this because she has to?" Subaru waited for a few minutes before answering. "Yes. As part of her contract with Puck, she has to talk with the spirits and day and at night. The reason I don't have to do the same is because my contract with Edan is different." She talked with the spirits for around thirty minutes. Subaru and the Zero no Tsukaima crew watched. Emilia was in her usual attire. She began making her way back to the mansion. Subaru at first didn't realize where she was going at first. Then it dawned to him. _"She's going to the stairs to go back in her room to study. Shit! We have to get moving."_ Subaru turned to the others. "She's coming up the stairs! We have to hide! Rem, get our new members to their rooms." Rem nodded and they began running down the stairs, which caused a ton of noise. Tiffania, Rem, Bidashal, Lutiana, and Theo ran to their room like crazy. They then shut the door. Emilia was making her way up the stairs, she was only one floor away from where's Subaru's at. _"Shit! I have to hide. Where's the door!"_ Without thinking, Subaru opened the first door his hand touched and went into the room. He closed it gently as he heard the footsteps that belong to Emilia get closer and closer. He sighed in relief. That is, until he looked around. Edan was in Subaru's blue crystal. _"Suba, I think this is the wrong room. This is Emilia's room."_ Subaru turned into panic. _"Kuso! Kuso! Where to hide? Damnit, I got reckless!"_ He tried to find a suitable hiding spot. The spot under the bed came to mind. _"I guess this'll have to do. Terrible idea. Terrible."_ With that, Subaru and Edan were completely still as he watched Emilia's walk to her desk. Subaru could only see her feet. She sat at the spot she usually sits, and began to write and study. Subaru was talking to Edan in his mind. _"Look at this mess I got into. This is what happens when I panic and forget to check the rooms."_

Edan replied to Subaru in his mind. _"Congrats Suba, you played yourself. You landed yourself in Emilia's room. Well played there."_ Subaru's face turned to Edan. _"Now is not the time to be sarcastic! I'm in serious deep shit right here."_ Subaru decided to pull out his iPhone XR. He turned the volume slider to silent as well as have the phone in vibration. Subaru went to the Discord app. Theo send him a message. _"Subaru, did you make it to your room?"_ Subaru looked at Emilia and looked back. He texted them back. _"I did make it into another room. Unfortunately, it was Emilia's room."_ Luctiana replied back instantly. _"You see this shit right here? I knew that Subaru was going to make an idiotic mistake. He falls apart every time he is near his beloved Emilia-tan."_ Subaru looked at the screen. Then, there came another message from Bidashal. _"Subaru! You dunderhead! Walking into the wrong room. How idiotic can an ex-NEET be? I mean, look at that."_ Subaru texted back in anger. _"That wasn't my fault! Emilia-tan was coming up the stairs. Damnit! What the hell am I supposed to do? She'll think I am still at Crusch's place getting healed for my gate, and pulling that stupid ass stunt in the capital."_ Luctiana wanted to push Subaru buttons. _"Yeah, especially in that capital. Since you declared yourself a knight in Lugnica. Everyone knows in the Lugnican capital knows who you are in love with."_

Subaru read the message. _"Huh?! That's it!" Subaru send an angry message to Luctiana. "SHUT UP! You know that isn't true!"_ Luctiana countered. _"Well, I must say, I think the entire knights who were in there, along with the Sages, know Subaru's true feelings."_ That made Subaru's blood boil. A Discord messaging battle was starting. _"Oh come on! You have got to be kidding me. Great."_ Tiffania was in her room at this time, trying to find a way for Subaru to get out. She messaged him on Discord. _"Well, looks like you are boned, Subaru-san. I suggest waiting in there."_ Subaru groaned in defeat. Edan meanwhile was trying to observe his surroundings. _"Yeah, Suba. I think you are kind of screwed for the time being. Looks like the only option left here is to wait Emilia to leave the room."_ Subaru looked at his shoes. They were still glowing blue. _"Kuso! I forgot to turn it off. If Emilia-tan looks down here, my cover is blown."_ Subaru reached for his neon shoes, turning them off. He barely was able to make it, coming close to banging his head on the bedroom foundation several times. _"I guess I have to wait here until Emilia-tan leaves. Maybe Puck doesn't know if I'm here, then it's all good. But if Puck found out I was here, it's all over. He froze the entire land with his powers. My goodness, I really don't want to come across that again."_

He tried to stay in the room, but Subaru was losing his patience. He stayed underneath and kept playing Epic Seven on his iPhone XR while chatting with the Zero no Tsukaima crew on Discord. This was Subaru's new life, filled with tech from his world. He hoped to introduce Emilia to this. Little did Emilia knew, that Subaru turned into a half-elf Spirits Art user like her. Little did she knew that she'll be introduced to new technologies and make new friends with the elves from Zero no Tsukaima.


	9. Under New Management & Reunion

_**In Emilia's Room – Third Floor**_

Subaru was still on his iPhone XR, talking to Tiffania and the others on Discord, under Emilia's bed as she is studying. Theo on the other hand wanted Subaru to know something. _"Subaru, there is something I have to tell you. Regarding about Roswaal."_ The half-elf was now confused. _"Roswaal? You mean the lord of this house and Emilia-tan's benefactor?"_ Theo replied back. _"Yes. Him. He is the one that hired Elsa to steal Emilia's insignia."_ Subaru's face turned onto pure shock. He was texting back, in completed disbelief. _"What?! That's impossible!"_ Theo replied back. _"Sadly, that is true. Roswaal's goal was to hire you, according to his Gospel. Basically, his gospel can predict future actions. His goal was to revive Echidna, his lover. The Roswaal you see is not Roswaal L Mathers. He is actually Roswaal A Mathers, who has been snatching the bodies of his decedents. And also getting Emilia on the throne by manipulating you. In other words, he is using her. He doesn't care about her."_ Subaru couldn't believe it. _"Snatching up the bodies of his decedents?! Using Emilia!? That silmeball."_ Theo kept on giving Subaru even more information. _"We are just getting started. Remember that mabeast incident in the village. Roswaal orchestrated that too. Do you even wondered why Roswaal didn't step in until the very end or why he didn't even bother to help defend the mansion against the Witch Cult?"_ Without even realizing it, Subaru's arm swung forward in fury. _"So he did that so he could test my power?! That son of a bitch! What a piece of shit. He knew damn well that he could repel all of the Witch Cult. And what did he do instead?! Leave Emilia-tan and the mansion completely defenseless, while I have to save everyone and the village. He wanted to see if Emilia and I could do it. Benefactor my ass! If he was on Emilia-tan's side, he would have come and helped us against the Witch Cult."_ The others in the chat were in silence. Tiffania soon typed in next. _"So, what are we going to do about this?"_ Luctiana replied. _"I say, we purge the people that are causing Subaru's suffering. Both Roswaal and Satella."_ Subaru was curious now. _"Purge? What in the world are you talking about, Luctiana-san?"_ Bidashal clarified the question. " _What she means Subaru, is to use the Death Note against both of them."_ Subaru was trying to figure out what the Death Note is. He then realized what it is and was scared. _"Death Note? Death Note! You know, this is really dangerous! Do you have any idea what you are messing with here?! If you write a name on it, they are killed. For good."_ Luctiana continued on. _"It's a Death Note that can be used for only two names, and it can kill them, regardless of their species or immortality. It also kills their soul for good. Once two names are written, the Death Note disappears."_ Subaru was unsure about this. _"This is dangerous. Plus, who is going to be in charge of this mansion afterwards?"_ Theo replied in an instant.

 _ **The fall of Roswaal, and the death of Witch of Envy**_

" _That is quite easy, Subaru. It would be you. You will be the new leader of Emilia's camp. Also, didn't you want to introduce new technologies into this place? If we get rid of a slime ball like Roswaal and Satella, then my daughter can live in peace. Plus, he doesn't really care about her anyway. Also, you guys can get like those robotic vacuums to clean the mansion. It would be helpful."_ Subaru shook his head. _"You guys really expect an 18 year old from Japan to start introducing video games, manga, and computers to people like Ram, Rem, and Emilia-tan? They can't even write in Japanese. How are they going to figure out the way I write? We better make these products in Lugnican if they want to be able to make use it. Also, Theo, if you want, write the Death Note and get over with it. Just warning you, the Death Note is something that is not to be messed with. Gotten in to the wrong hands, it can be terrifying. I have seen it corrupt people like Light from Death Note. Watch yourself."_ From Theo's point of view, the best way to ensure a proper future with Subaru and Emilia was the total elimination of both Satella and Roswaal. Theo got out his Death Note from his elven storage, and materialized a pen on his hand. He sighed to himself. _"Is this really the right thing to do? Why am I even doing this in the first place?_ " Theo started to recall all of the experiences that he saw from the Re:Zero anime. From the suffering that Subaru endured, to the way that Roswaal didn't even bother to protect the mansion against the Witch Cult, it was enough for him to start writing their names. _"I don't care. Both of them are sacks of shit that need to be removed from Lugnica. Subaru will lead my daughter to a better future. Roswaal on the other hand, won't. Goodbye Roswaal, this is your comeuppance."_

With that, Theo first wrote down the name: Satella, the Witch of Envy. Theo also wrote down the cause of death, which is the following: _"Cause of death: Crushed her own heart with her Shadow Hands."_ He then took his pen and wrote down Roswaal Mathers name next. His cause of death was the following: _"Cause of death: Commits suicide by falling from a high place."_ Since Theo knew the faces of both of them, both of their deaths will be ensured. At the location where Satella was sealed, she unleashed her shadow hands and crushed her own heart, killing her instantly. Despite her being the most powerful enemy in Lugnican history, and the one who summoned Subaru from Japan to this world, and the one that killed Emilia, she was no match for the Death Note. Minutes later, Roswaal also committed suicide by using his flying magic and flew all the way into the outer bounds of the atmosphere. He traveled to the ocean in the middle of the continent, where no one can see him. He then flew further up, almost into space, then lost consciousness. He plunged right into The Tigracy River. The impact from the fall killed him instantly. Roswaal A/L. Mathers, one of the most powerful mages in Lugnica, and a person who was gathering half's to the Sanctuary to take the trials, was no more. Meanwhile, Theo watched the Death Note dissolve from him. This gave him the indication that the Death Note killings were successful. _"Where's your Gospel now, Roswaal?"_

Theo then replied to the Discord channel. _"Hey, I used the Death Note on both Satella and Roswaal. It worked, as the Death Note dissolved. Subaru, can you try to say Return by Death out loud?"_ Subaru couldn't believe it. Here, Theo, Emilia's father, killed off the most notorious witch in Lugnican history, as well as offing the Margave Roswaal, who is known as one of the best mages in Lugnica. Subaru shook his head as he was in complete shock. _"Unbelievable. Theo actually managed to do it."_ With that, Subaru whispered the following. "I can Return by Death to comeback from dying." Subaru was expecting for the hands to come for him once again, like it did numerous times before when he was trying to tell other people. However, this time, nothing happened at all. No presence of Satella, nothing at all. At the same time, Subaru was relieved to be free from Satella's grip. He can finally tell the truth of what happened to him, and what Emilia did to Subaru when he first came to the world. How she was special in his eyes. Subaru went to type on the Discord channel. _"I was able to say Return by Death without Satella gripping my chest. I still can't believe it. Satella is really dead. She is really gone. Roswaal is gone. How will Emilia react to this? Especially when Roswaal will never return to this mansion ever again. Ram especially. They seemed pretty close. Though I have no idea on how things are going to go around this mansion with Roswaal gone for good. Speaking of which, I should check on the specs of the iPhone XR."_ Meanwhile, Emilia was at her desk, writing as usual, studying for the Royal Election. Puck on the other hands was in the crystal. Subaru was taken back when he saw the screen resolution. _"Sub 1080p screen on a smartphone that is supposed to be from 2018 in Japan?! Hell no. I'm going to switch to a new phone."_ He went to the Discord for advice. _"Hey guys, I realized that the iPhone XR is not a good value for money. I want to switch to a new smartphone. Which one to recommend?"_ Theo was thinking about which phone is for him. He send Subaru a message on Discord. _"I would suggest this phone. It's called the OnePlus 6T. It has a 1080P display, a 6.42 inch screen, a small waterdrop notch. Get the 256 GB/8 GB RAM variant."_ Subaru nodded. He was about to get his materializer out, but Edan stopped him. _"Suba! Emilia is still in the room. If you decide to materialize it, she would likely check out the source of the light. Remember when you used it? It gave off a really bright green light. If you like, I can deploy a temporary barrier around you to block all of the light that is going to come out of the device._ " Subaru gave the go ahead for Edan. _"Put the barrier around me while I get the OnePlus 6T from their site. Should be able to get it up and running."_

 ** _A phone upgrade_**

With that, Edan deployed a barrier around Subaru. _"I'll be able to hold this barrier for about five minutes, so make it quick! It's been a while since I have used my powers, that's why my barrier doesn't last as long as it normally should."_ Subaru got out his Materializer and got the One Plus 6T from their official site. In just a matter of seconds, Subaru had a new OnePlus 6T on his right hand. He realized that he needed something to open the box. _"Damnit, where is the tool kit? If I remember correctly, Theo mentioned to be that it is included in my elven storage."_ Sure enough, when Subaru pulled out his elven storage, there it was. He got the toolkit and proceeded to unbox the OnePlus 6T that was included. The first thing that Subaru noticed was the slogan: _"Unlock the Speed."_ Subaru spotted the phone and took it out. This one had a fingerprint sensor that is included in the box. He was amazed at how far the technology has gotten while he was away from Earth. _"So it is really true. Technology has gotten to the point where we actually have fingerprint sensors on the phone itself. Not only that, but I read the features of the phone as well. Compared to my flip phone, this screen is enormous. It takes almost the entire front of this phone. It also seems to have the face unlock as well, clocked at 0.4 seconds. Looks like their speed slogan was no joke."_ He also found a SIM card remover as well, something that he will need to swap between the phones. Then, Subaru realized that he didn't even need a SIM card in the first place. Since this is a special edition of the OnePlus 6T, processed by the Materializer, it came with its own infinite battery, and SIM. Subaru then put the container that had the One Plus 6T into his elven storage. _"That's right, I also might need another custom case to go along with this."_ Subaru used the Materializer to get access to , where he created a case that had Emilia-tan and himself on it. He purchased the product, and proceeded to place it on his phone. With that step complete, Subaru moved towards setting up the phone. He placed the toolkit away, as well as the iPhone XR. _"The XR will be my backup driver, just in case something goes wrong with the 6T."_ The One Plus 6T was in Subaru's right hand. He pressed the power button. Edan on the other hand was amazed. _"Suba, that Metia is huge. So this is what technology is. By the looks of it, I think I couldn't live without this thing!"_ Subaru nodded. The first thing he did was to set up his Google Account, his fingerprint identification, as well as face unlock. Once that was done, Subaru was taken into the main screen of Android 9.0 Pie. To be more specific, it was Oxygen OS, developed by OnePlus. It offers very close to stock Android experience, along with enhancements. Subaru smirked as he tested the fingerprint sensor and the face unlock. _"That is fast. Should have gotten a smartphone back then, instead of a crummy one from the early 2000s. What the hell I think I am?"_

He downloaded Discord and logged into his account. There, Bidashal, Theo, and the others were waiting for him. Subaru also went into Google Chrome and downloaded a wallpaper of Emilia onto his phone. He went to the Discord chat. _"Swap complete. This phone is ridiculous. A 6.4 inch screen is really big. I can't wait for Emilia-tan to get her hands on this. She'll ditch that Communication Metia so fast, it's not even funny."_ Bidashal was in his room, typing in response to Subaru. He shook his head and let out a small chuckle. "Even when you are a half-elf, you never change, Subaru-kun." Bidashal kept typing. _"So Subaru, did you miss your video games, light novels, manga, and anime from Japan?"_ Subaru looked at the reply that Bidashal gave him. _"A little bit, I guess. In fact, it helps me to appreciate all of the modern conveniences that I had before I came to Lugnica."_ Finally, after an hour of waiting, Emilia walked out of her room, having completed her studies for the day. Subaru saw an opportunity as she left and closed the door behind her. Subaru got out from under her bed. _"Whew, that was a little bit too tight there. Now, let's get out of Emilia-tan's room and into my room."_ Just then, Edan popped out of Subaru's hair. "Well then, make it quick, Suba! She'll be coming back into this room at any moment. You don't want her to see your half-elf form, don't you?"Subaru snarled at Edan. "Be quiet! She'll hear that. Let's get out of here." Subaru tipped toed his way to the door, the opened it slowly. He checked the left and the right. No one was in sight. Subaru closed the door that led to Emilia-tan's room and made his way into his room. He sighed in relief. Emilia didn't realize that Subaru had returned to the mansion yet. Subaru started to walk to his desk and turned on his Dell G7 that was on the table. On his One Plus 6T, Subaru commented on where it was. _"I have made it back to my room. Emilia-tan has left her room, most likely to do another session with the spirits, or to have a break."_ Theo, Tiffania, Bidashal, and Luctiana congratulated him on getting out of a sticky situation. _"Well done Subaru-kun. What is the new owner of the mansion is going to do now?"_ Subaru was trying to come up with a logical answer. Since he had the internet at his fingertips, he can do research about anything he wants. He communicated his intentions. _"I want to know about Emilia-tan, so I am going to do some research on her with my Dell G7 laptop."_ Subaru got to the desktop fast due to the SSD. He went to Firefox and typed the following: "Re:Zero Emilia's past." The first result that he came across was a link to a Reddit page. It said: _"[LN] (Synopsis) Emilia's Past in Arc 4"_ Subaru was curious, so he naturally gravitated to that link and clicked on it.

 _ **Emilia's past**_

"Emilia's past?!" Subaru said to himself. Edan popped out of his silver hair. "Interesting, Suba. I'm kind of curious as well. Why don't we read it? It could give us some good information regarding Emilia." Subaru nodded. He began to read about Emilia. At this time, it was 2:30 PM in the afternoon. The first thing that Subaru noticed was the cast members. "There's Emilia and Echidna as usual. Wait a minute….Fortuna?! Fortuna! Emilia has an aunt?! Arch?! Who the hell is that, wait a minute…Elven villager? Petelguese, also known as Sloth. Regulus, Archbishop of Greed?! There's another archbishop?! Pandora? What the hell is the Witch of Vainglory?" Edan shook his head. "Suba, the Witch of Vainglory is extremely dangerous." Subaru kept on reading. When he got to the part where Echidna calls Emilia a whore who always cling to a man crying, Subaru's fists balled up in fury. _"I'll staple that bitch's mouth shut if I ever hear her say that."_ In this scene, Emilia looking at her past self. It said that the young Emilia was playing with Guese and Fortuna. He was worried about Emilia getting hurt while playing. Subaru was shocked. "Petelguese was completely different in this than what he is now. What the hell happened to him?" It then describes Fortuna lecturing the importance of a promise, because Emilia should not be playing outside. Petelguese then cries with joy as Emilia and Fortuna hugged each other. Subaru was in disbelief. "If this is true, then the Petelguese I knew was not the same as the one here. What the hell is going on here? I am seriously tripping up. Subaru chuckled as he watched Emilia say that it wasn't dangerous at all. Edan was reading as well. "Emilia showing potential to be a spirit user, which Fortuna doesn't like." Subaru looked at that portion of the text as well. "Why would she not like that? Seems strange. You would think that being a Spirit Arts user would be a blessing. That also means that Emilia's mother is a full human, since Theo is a full elf. I'll have to keep reading." It then continued onto the next scene, where Greed was berating Petelguese who had no power. He took out the black box, saying sorry to Flugel. Greed got pissed off, and Pandora simply watched. He was now Sloth. He has his new abilities, called the Unseen Hands. He also added 'Desu!' after accepting Sloth. Subaru stopped his foot in anger. "Damnit! That idiot! Even if I was powerless as a human, I would rather remain powerless than have my sanity be reduced to zero!" Edan was speechless. He couldn't believe it. Emilia's past was both shocking and heartbreak for even him to here. "To think that Emilia is going through all of this…." It then shifted to another scene, where Fortuna meets with a fellow elven villager, Arch. Subaru read as they discussed about Pandora's goal to open the seal inside Elior Forest. Fortuna then said she was sorry that they're being attacked because of her and Emilia, which Arch said they are indebted by her and Emilia's parents.

"Indebted by her parents?! I should talk to Theo about this. Then again, I'm also overstepping by bounds. No, I am not going to do that." Subaru kept reading. What he read next shocked him. Emilia cries saying it's all her fault because she broke the promise. "HUH?! Her fault because she broke the promise…no wonder, it all makes sense now." Edan looked at Subaru. "What makes sense, Suba?" Subaru put his head down and began to talk. "The reason that promises are important to her because not only because she is a Spirit Arts user. It is also because she felt immense guilt for breaking a promise, and saying that the attack by Regulus and Pandora was all her fault. No wonder she got mad at me in the capital, because that is what she felt. Then again, it's was all my fault for making her feel that way. All because I was using that bullshit illusion that I was a fucking protagonist in a goddamn isekai story! This isn't fucking Asterisk War, or Absolute Duo. GRRRRRRRR!" Subaru was balling in fists in fury, once again hating himself for the past actions. Edan conformed Suabru. "Suba, you're going back to hating yourself again. You have to calm down, or else, it will be come your worst enemy." That moment there was when Subaru realized something. That thing was about his life in Japan. "Why in the hell was I ranting about myself wasting my life away in Japan?! Not being a NEET would make jack shit of a difference here! The same damn events will still occur. It's not like we have video games, military nukes, and tanks here! What the hell could I have done? Gone to school? I bet going to a club won't have made a damn difference. I guess I said that because I was simply deep in despair, that I had lost all hope. But I realized then, that the self-loathing attitude towards myself would become my worst enemy. I had Return by Death, but my self-loathing was getting in the way of my happiness. Before that, I never loved myself. Not one bit at all."

Edan simply nodded and turned towards the screen. "Shall we continue?" Subaru read on, as Arch sacrifices himself to let Emilia escape from the Black Snake. Meanwhile, Greed has cut of Sloth's arms just before Fortuna ambushes and kills Pandora. Greed has lost it. Pandora has given up controlling Greed, and he disappears, everything that Greed did was reverted. Fortuna and Petelgeuse was confused. They gather the strength to finish Pandora again. Subaru put his hands on his chin. _"Hmm. I don't like the way this is going right now. Something tells me that it's not going to be a happy ending of sorts."_ Edan agreed. "I would have to say the same thing, Suba. I get that feeling too. Do you thing that Fortuna survived this incident?" Subaru's face gradually turned into sorrow. "Sadly, I don't think she made it. You want to know why? If she was still alive, she would be looking for Emilia-tan, right now. But I haven't seen another elf at all in Lugnica. Besides Emilia-tan, but she is a half-elf."

Subaru turned to the screen, where he scrolled down to get the synopsis. In the next scene, Emilia is meeting with the lesser sprits, who guided her to the front of a cave with the seal. Pandora was waiting. Subaru also found out from Reddit that she had Petelgeuse for closing on Fortuna because of jealousy. "Jealousy?! Never thought of Emilia-tan to be the jealous type." Edan giggled. "Well, that's how girls act Subaru. You know, Emilia is also a normal cute girl." This caused Subaru to blush as he thought about her long, silver hair. As he kept scrolling, he found out that Pandora's goal was to open the key to the seal, and that Emilia that was the one that was going to do it. She was about to open it when she remembered her promise to Fortuna that she won't do anything about the seal. "That's where the promise comes in. And that Pandora bitch is trying to bait her." Just then, Fortuna entered the scene, and tried to attack Pandora, who keeps reviving. Subaru's jaw dropped. "Pandora can revive!? Holy crap. That's one strong person." Edan nodded. "Suba, there's more." In the following scenes, Pandora directed Fortuna's non-fatal attack to Emilia with illusion. Pandora mocks her, saying that Emilia's parents must be proud of them and makes final suggestion to cancel the promise Fortuna made with Emilia. Of course, Fortuna refused, and Petegeuse joins the fight. Unfortunately, Pandora used illusion to make Petegeuse kill Fortuna. Petegeuse lost control of his power and has gone mad. Subaru realizes how Sloth went off the deep end.

"So that's how Sloth became the way he is. That is a really dirty tactic. Pandora used illusion so that Petegeuse to kill Fortuna. What a heartless person." Pandora revealed that she also used the lesser spirits to lure Emilia to the seal. "And she lured Emilia with the spirits, knowing she is a Spirits Art user?!" Subaru was on the verge of losing it. It took all of his might to contain his range towards Pandora. Also, Pandora said that Emilia's mother is dead and that you don't have to keep promises anymore. _"No, but her father is alive and well. He's kind-hearted like her."_ Subaru kept reading. Emilia snaps, and she starts to freeze everything in sight, including herself. Of course, this doesn't work against Pandora. The way that Emilia kept saying 'die, die, die', was painful for Subaru to read. Emilia eventually frozen herself, leaving her body in cyrosleep. Subaru kept reading. Edan did the same as well. "So 'You will forget my existence in your memory till now.'" Subaru slammed hands on the bed. "She has the audacity to tamper with her memories?! I can't believe this. If this is true, then Emilia-tan was frozen until the spirit Puck went for her and freed her from that." Edan, the white fur spirit, also added to Subaru's statement. "That's correct. In this case, the spirit is Puck. Obviously. It also means she was frozen when she was 7 years old." Subaru closed his eyes.

"To think that Emilia-tan is going through all of this when she was young. I…I…I'm sorry about….Fortuna. When I was the same age, I was in grade school. Living a normal life in Japan, with a happy family. It was peaceful. No magic, no suffering. I wished….she had that experience too….." Subaru was trying to process the new information that he got from Reddit. He was still at a loss for words. "Simply unbelievable. I'll have to relay to the Zero no Tsukaima crew about this information." Discord was lit up by Subaru's activity again. _"After about an hour of research, I found about Emilia-tan's past."_ Luctiana was losing her patience. _"What is it Subaru? Tell us! About her past."_ Subaru replied back. _"Her past…wasn't the happiest one."_ Bidashal was on high alert. _"What?! Subaru-kun, what does that mean?"_ Subaru kept typing on his One Plus 6T. _"Bidashal, her village, Elior forest, was attacked by Pandora and the Archbishop of Greed, Regulus. The Archbishop of Sloth, wasn't always like this. He was…much kinder in the past. In fact, he was a good friend of Fortuna and Emilia-tan. Then, he inherited the genes."_ Theo texted back. _"Inherited the genes?! Geuse did that?! Ugh, that dunderhead! That's has got to be the stupidest thing ever. I bet I'm not the only one that is feeling this way."_ Subaru said nothing else, because he didn't want Theo to know that Fortuna was killed by Geuse. He felt guilt for not telling him, but it would better off for Theo, Emilia's father, to not know about the fate of his sister." Subaru sighed as he walked over to the TV. Before he did thought, he texted to Discord that he was going to play some Black Ops 4 on his PS4 Pro. _"Guys, I am going to play Black Ops 4 for an hour or two. It's about 3 PM in the after right now, so I want to relax a little bit, right in my room. I'll see you guys in the bit. Feel free to roam around the mansion, but watch out for Emilia-tan. If she sees one of us, it's over. I hope Emilia-tan doesn't find out about this. Sayonara for now!"_ With that, Subaru turned his phone to silent and turned on both of his Black Ops 4 and PS4 Pro. "All right, time to kick some serious….." That was when Subaru realized that he had to download 100 GB to play the game. "You have got to be kidding me. I have to wait for this shit to finish before I can play?! This is quite annoying." Meanwhile, on the Discord channel, Theo was discussing Subaru's behavior. _"Guys, I think I know why Subaru is avoiding Emilia-tan. His feelings are getting stronger for my daughter."_ Bidashal thought about it for a minute while he was walking around the mansion. He replied back. _"I won't deny it, Subaru has gotten flustered every time we tease him about Emilia. This avoiding someone seems to a coping mechanism. I think he is in denial."_

Luctiana agreed on this as well. _"I have no doubt, Subaru is in LOVE with Emilia. He LIKES her. A LOT. It's so damn obvious, I bet even the fucking capital would be able to spot it from a mile away. You saw what happened in the anime, right? Subaru was smacked so hard by the love train, even the heart icon popped up in his mouth. Remember that scene in episode 12?"_ Theo chuckled. Meanwhile, in the lobby, Subaru was kicking serious ass. His user name was the following: _"HalfElfNatsuki95"_. His gaming skills are ridiculous. One match after another, Subaru kept getting gunship, after gunship, after gunship. The enemy team kept rage quitting. Insults were thrown his way, but this only made him giggle as the enemy team tilted. _"You fucking half-elf. I'll shove an ICR up your ass. Camping pile of crap."_ By the time an hour passed, Subaru was now at level 25. He had just unlocked the KN-57 assault rifle. _"Whew, what a great hour of playing. I should turn off this TV now. Emilia-tan seems to be busy, probably going to the village again. I guess that's a good thing anyway. I should probably ask Theo something. There is a question that I want to be asked."_ In another room, Theo completely removed his mask, exposing his beautiful silver hair, and purple eyes. These are the traits that Emilia got from him. Theo watched his daughter as she left for Irlam village. _"She has grown so much. The last time, I saw her, she was only a babe. My wife and I were so busy that we didn't have time to be with her, so Fortuna, my younger sister, took care of her while me and my wife were gone. Until, I was transported to Halkgenia."_ At that moment, that was when Theo got a notification on his Samsung Note 9. It was from Subaru. _"Theo, I need to ask a few questions. Do you have a few minutes to talk?"_ Theo hopped into the chat and texted back to Subaru. _"Sure. Ask me anything."_ Subaru kept typing on his One Plus 6T. _"Fortuna, she is your younger sister, right? That means you're older than her?"_ Theo replied back quickly, _"That's right, Fortuna is younger than me. I am older than her. Want to walk around the back of the mansion with me?"_ Subaru looked at the time. It was about 4:00 PM. Emilia is in her room again, studying again. _"Sure. Just be sure that Emilia-tan doesn't see us."_ Theo pouted. " _I'll be there in a moment. Wait in your room. It's the door that is to the left of my daughter's room."_ Subaru waited for around a couple of minutes. As Theo made his way to the third floor. He stopped by the door that leads to his daughter's room. _"No, why am I hesitating in the first place? She's my daughter after all. No, this is not the right time."_

Theo went to the next door that Subaru was in. He opened it. Subaru looked up from his OnePlus 6T while he was sitting at his desk. "About time. What about the others. How they are doing?" Theo shrugged. "The others are touring around the mansion right now. They have also met Ram as well, with Rem explaining to Ram who were are. As usual, we are still going with your avoiding 'Emilia-tan' thing, since you are a complete nervous wreck around my daughter and can't tell her you are in love with her. Subaru's face turned pinkish red. "I….guess. Let's get out to the garden in the back." Theo nodded, and Subaru walked out his room and closed the door. Meanwhile, Emilia could hear footsteps of what sounds like two people outside. She noticed the noise as she was done studying. "Puck, it seems that it is quite busy in the mansion right now." Her face turned into a sorrowful one as she laid her head on the desk. It was six days now since she broke ties with Subaru at the capital. She was deeply hurt at the way that Subaru kept pushing himself and on top of that, breaking her promise to stay at the inn with Rem, along with his rant at the end, saying that she owns him a debt. To make sure he doesn't hurt himself anymore, she distanced herself from him and got him to be treated at Crusch's mansion, along with Rem. Puck looked at her and sighed. "Lia…" He rubbed his eyes. At this time, Subaru and Theo were making their way down the lobby. While going down, Subaru encountered Ram. "Barusu. I can see right through that new look of yours. Even with you are a half-elf, with your silver-hair, pointy-ears, blue eyes, and glasses, your face is a dead giveaway. Bidashal-sama told me all about it. He also told me about the new kitchen equipment that Theo put in. Now, come here, Barusu."

Subaru looked at Theo. "Subaru, go on. Looks like she wants to give you something." Subaru went over. It was a mistake. The next thing that Subaru knew, he had a yam up his mouth, again. "Freshly steamed yams, as usual." Theo chuckled at this, while Subaru accepted the food. He gave a thumbs up. "Thanks Ram." She winked at him. "Be sure to reconcile with Emilia-sama. Your mana gate, from what I heard from the other elves, is at max potential." Subaru nodded, with a slight blush on his cheeks. He made his way out to the garden with Theo. Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal on the other hand was discussing about how to improve the mansion, or what new rooms to create. Since Roswaal was dead, they could do what they want with the base. At the garden, Subaru and Theo began their 50 minute walk. They walked pass the green fields, and the tennis court. Theo was still uneasy. "So, how will the mansion fair? Roswaal no longer exists. Satella is gone. And me. How in the hell is Emilia is going to react to see a father that she hasn't even seen her father ever since she was a baby? Damnit! I wished I could have spent more time with her, than leave her with Fortuna. But, we had no choice in the matters when it regards to that."

 _ **A talk with Emilia's father**_

"I can feel your pain. My parents were largely the same as well. They held a pretty high position in my town, and so, they are not at the house most of the time. So I had that time to go to school, but I played video games instead." Theo was curious about what video games Subaru played in his room. "What type of video games." Subaru looked up for a moment to collect his thoughts. "I was good at single player games." Theo nodded. "So does that include games such as Touhou Project? The one where you dodge bullet hell?" Subaru nodded. "That's right, I played games such as that. It's a really good test of your reflexes, though I should have spent more time going to school than playing games all day. I remember the time I before I got to Lugnica. I was at that convenience store, buying tonkotsu ramen and potato chips." Theo placed his hands on his cheeks. "Yeah, that is probably not the healthiest thing in the world. Although it may be good for college students."

Subaru shrugged his shoulders. "Well, to be fair, that was a night dinner run. My parents wasn't home yet. I was about to make my way home, and then, Satella had to yank me from Japan. I have no damn idea why, but she did." Theo shook his head. "Subaru, you can't really prepare for this. Let me ask you a question, what do you think about Return by Death?" Subaru's expression turned into a sad smile. "Return by Death, it's a powerful ability. I think I lost it, since Satella was the one that gave me the ability. She is the one who controls it. Since you killed her, I don't think I have that anymore. However, Return by Death comes with a high price. One, when you go back, the only one that remembers those experiences is yourself. Second, dying is painful. Japan never taught me what it feels like to die. In the real world, my world, you only get one life. That's why I never killed myself, even though I was able to die and revive continuously. If I kept killing myself, that would have defeated the whole point of making the most out of your life. Each moment that you live is precious. I learned that the hard way." Theo simply nodded as he walked along with Subaru. "Regarding the mansion, with Roswaal killed, that means you are now the head of this domain, Subaru. You are the one that is in charge of Emilia's camp now, and the village. All of the property that Roswaal owned is yours." Subaru fixed his pseudo glasses as his long, silver hair waved against the breeze. Birds were chirping, and the sun was making its way towards the horizon. "This is such a tall order. I'm just an 18 year old kid. I'm also a Spirts Art user in training. I don't even know the ways of the Spirit Arts. Emilia-tan knows it, since she had the gift ever since she was young. I only had it for two days. I want to make your daughter the ruler, but without that Margrave, Emilia has even less of a chance of winning. Roswaal being dead would spread around the capital like wildfire. We have to prevent that." Theo was confused. "And how you are going to do that? If word gets out that the Margave is dead, this faction, no, my daughter's faction, is done for."

Subaru shook his head. "I really don't know. That disguise watch would be useless, because it would be a matter of time before people found out that it wasn't Roswaal on the surface, but one of his servants." Theo kept walking. Silence filled the air for several minutes as Theo was trying to come up with a suggestion. Finally, he came up with one. "Subaru, since you came from Japan, you have a vast knowledge of technology from Earth. Using that, I think we should give the entire domain a technological uplift. From what I have seen, they are still in the medieval ages. I think it would be the best idea if we get them up to speed with modern conveniences. Our Materializers can help us with this!" Subaru once again corrected his glasses, which are there to make him look smarter, not as a vision device. "I would like to do that, but we can't simply just produce all of the modern stuff and expect them to know how to use it. We should do it in stages." Theo nodded. "Subaru-kun, you make a great point. This won't be as easy as your first invention." Subaru looked at Theo. "Are you actually talking about my mayo invention? You must be. Never mind that. I think to start modernizing my domain, we should give them something that is easy, small, and it's from modern era Japan." Theo was thinking about it. "What about a smartphone? Back in Tristain, we constructed a factory that was used to mass product products from Earth. Using some of my Yang magic, we could make a small-scale factory in the basement." Subaru nodded in approval of the plan. "That's what we should do. For the first modern device to come to Lugnica, it will be the OnePlus 6T. The 256 GB/8 GB model.

First, before we even start on this, we should probably talk with the other elves first and see what the think about it. As you can see, Rem as gotten used to it quite quickly, so it would make sense if Emilia-tan and Ram got the hang of it as well. Plus, I think Emilia-tan would be quite surprised on how much a smartphone can offer, especially when it actually has reception and unlimited battery, exclusive to the mansion." Theo walked behind Subaru. "So that flip-phone, what are you going to do with that?" Subaru didn't how, so he signaled to Theo that he had no idea what he was going to do with it. At this point, they are half-way done with their walking. Subaru still couldn't get over the fact that Roswaal basically used Emilia as a pawn for his own ends. Subaru shook his head in disappointment. "Fortuna would have ripped him a new one. That's just cruel and uncalled for. I'm glad that person is gone for good, and it's all thanks to that two-use Death Note." Theo said nothing, but he felt the same as well. Though he didn't like to kill, he felt that Emilia would be better off if Roswaal was dead, and Subaru was the one that was the lord of the domain. He saw Subaru in the Re: Zero anime, where he was good with the children. Theo knew that Subaru was the right person to led Emilia to becoming the Queen of Lugnica, not Roswaal. _"Those anime scenes, such as when Subaru was possessed by Sloth. It never happened in the first place. We have already altered the future massively. Satella and Roswaal are gone from this place."_

The two of them kept walking. Meanwhile, back in the mansion, it was about 4:45 PM. Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal were walking along the mansion floors, along with Ram. They were talking about where they came from. Ram was the first one to speak. "So in other words, Tiffania-sama is also a half-elf as well. She has the pointiest ears that I've even seen in an elf. You said that you came from Subaru's world, right?" Tiffania nodded. "Yes, I did. I was a parent of the Archduke of Albion, and I had a human mother, making me a half-elf. You can say that I am royalty." Ram nodded. "And Barusu, he also has a spirit that is contracted to him, right?" Bidashal nodded to the pink haired maid. "That's right. His name is Edan, a white fox. Though I don't know how he is contracted to her. Unlike Puck though, he teases the hell out of Subaru. It seems that he and Luctiana are constantly trying to get Subaru closer to Emilia." Ram simply nodded. Bidashal, with his pointy ears, cleared his throat. "Ram. There is something that we need to tell you. Roswaal….is no more." Ram was taken aback. "What?!" She was getting panicked. Luctiana had to calm her down. "Ram! Calm down! Bidashal can explain everything to you." Ram eventually calmed down. Bidashal started explaining. "Though our metia, Theo and I have come to the conclusion that Roswaal was acting against Emilia-sama, as well as Subaru. First of all, that Oni village. Roswaal could have stopped it, but he didn't. He took advantage of the situation, and took you both in. Next, he also took in Emilia as well, as the gospel says. His only concern is reviving his master, Echidna, better known as the Witch of Greed. He doesn't care about Subaru or Emilia. Never has, never will. Also, he told you that he was going to kill that dragon. He is the guardian of Lugnica. That there was enough to expose him of his nefarious schemes. To stop him, Theo, Emilia's father, decided to kill Roswaal with the Death Note. He believed that Roswaal would hurt Emilia in the long run. I'm so sorry about this, but the man you loved, was a man that was using you all. I'm so sorry, Rem-sama"

Ram started to cry in sadness as she walked to her room and closed the door. Luctiana watched her enter. "Bidashal, why did you have to say that to her?" He kept a stern face. "I had to tell her about Roswaal. The man she loves isn't the same man that she knew. That guy is cold, ruthless, and will never stop at anything to revive his master. Do you really think that holding off from tell Ram would make it any easier? In fact, it would have been much worse if we did that." Tiffania began walking downstairs towards the floor. "We should leave Ram to grieve. Don't bother her in the meantime. She is shocked at these new developments, so it's best to leave." Meanwhile, at the final ten minutes of the walk. Edan popped up. As it was approaching 5:00, Edan's time was almost up. He was tired and gave out a yawn. Theo gave Edan a little wave at his presence.

Subaru looked at Edan. "Looks like you're getting tired." Edan nodded. "My mana reserves are getting low for the day, so I'll go back to the crystal. As usual, if you need my assistance, I'll be there for you. In the meantime, you should probably head back to the mansion now with Theo. Emilia should know that you are a half-elf, as well a reunion with her is need. Best of luck to you, Suba!" With that, Edan's fox form dissolved and went back into Subaru's blue crystal that was on his chest. Theo looked at Subaru. "So, Edan went back for the day? Does he have a time to stay awake?" Subaru nodded. "Yes. Edan can only stay awake from 9 AM to 5 PM. After those times, he stays asleep to regain his mana." Eventually, they have finished their walk. "Shall we return to the mansion? Rem might be waiting for us." Subaru began turning and they started back to walk into the mansion. "I guess. We should also prepare for us to eat at around 6:00 PM, in the guest room. I still want to avoid Emilia-tan. She's extremely busy right now, in her room, studying. If I remember correctly. She also goes out at night to communicate with the spirits, so stay away from the entrance of the mansion, if possible." Theo sighed. "You're the new owner of this domain, as well as Emilia's boyfriend. Even if you are a half-elf, you haven't change much, Subaru." Subaru closed his eyes as he made his way into the mansion. There, the lights were still green, but the sunlight began to fade as dusk approached. There, they made their way to Rem's room. Subaru opened the door, but she wasn't there at all.

Subaru eventually found her in the kitchen, where she was experimenting with Google Assistant and trying to use the feature. Apparently, she has tried every command to show the recipe for the foods, but they didn't really have the ingredients. Subaru appeared next to her. The footsteps of others made Rem turn her head. "Subaru-kun. Theo. I've been teaching my older sister Ram on how to use these devices. She has gotten of the hang of it." Subaru walked around Rem. "Has Emilia-tan been informed that you have been returned to this place, or how I have returned?" Rem shook her head. "No, she hasn't. Ram though has told me that Roswaal is dead though, killed by Emilia-sama's father. That means that you are now the head of the mansion. Am I right, Subaru-kun?" Subaru nodded. "That's right. With Roswaal's death, I am now the owner of this domain, as well as Emilia-tan's main supporter. This is such a tall order for me to go up against. Emilia-tan is fighting right now for all of our futures, for those who have been unfairly discriminated against." Subaru put his hands on his chin. "Tonight, I want you all to meet at the dining room to discuss about several important things regarding what I am going to do. Also, Rem…pl…p…p..please invite Emilia-tan to join as well. We have to introduce the Zero no Tsukaima elves and the recent developments that have just happened, but first, I think it's time for something." Subaru turned to Theo. Theo nodded, sensing what Subaru was about to say to him. Subaru walked over to Theo. "It's time to reunite, Theo. I want to you to go see Emilia." Theo was getting nervous, as he was going to reunite with his daughter after a long time. After more than 100 years of seeing her, he's going to see his daughter for real.

 _ **Reunion with daughter and father**_

With that, Subaru took Theo to the door that leads to Emilia's room. "Come on, open it. It's time. I'll be waiting for you downstairs with Rem." Theo placed both of his hands on Subaru. "I…I…can't thank you enough for the opportunity for me to see my daughter. Thank you for…everything that you have done for her." As Theo said that, a single tear fell from his face. That single tear feel to the floor. Theo reached for the door handle. His hands were trembling like crazy. He reached for the door and opened it. The door creaked. There, Emilia was studying for the election, when she heard the door open. She looked up to see who it was. At first, Emilia thought it was Ram. However, when she looked up, she saw an elf, that was 6 feet tall, that same silver hair, and purple eyes that were exactly like hers. He seemed to have tears in his eyes, and his attire was similar to those people that lived in Elior forest. Emilia was in shock. "Um...w..who are you? You have some traits of me." Who was this person? He began speaking. "I…..I'm sorry…for leaving…you…in Elior forest. I...left you with Fortuna…..you…were only a babe back then….Emilia. But…..a father….never forgets. If Puck called you father...me, standing right here, right now, is your real father." This caused Emilia to hyperventilate. Eventually, she completely lost it, dropped everything that she was doing, and rushed to him. They embraced each other, with Emilia sobbing in his arms. Theo closed his eyes, and embraced his daughter. "When I was gone from Elior, I was whisked away. I thought I would never see you again. Your mother and I were away at the time." He stroked Emilia's face and hair, to which her face was wet from her tears. "Your face is like your mother's. I can see her face in yours." Emilia still couldn't believe it. To think that all of these years, that her father was still alive, was simply incredible. Emilia touched her father's hair. He let out a faint smile. "I…I had help from someone, Emilia. That person led me here to you." Emilia was still shacking. "W…Who…which person? F…F….Father?" He let out a sigh. "My dear daughter, I'll give you a hint. It's someone that you knew. That person who led me here is that broke his promise in the capital. That person is the one who you formed a contract with Crusch to have his gate healed." Emilia is shocked. "Subaru? But why? Why would he come back?" Theo shook his head. "Well, I was talking to him just a while ago. I'll keep it straight. Subaru LOVES you, Emilia. He LOVES you A LOT. That's why he always pushes himself too hard for you. He knows that the prejudice in the throne room is wrong, he stood up for you. I know he broke two promises, and that is especially important to a Spirit Arts user. Emilia, let me tell you what happened to Subaru in the capital, okay?" Emilia was still not convinced. At the same time, she was also confused. "I...I don't really know what it means to 'love' someone." Theo had a small smile. "It's something that you need to find out for yourself." Emilia's voice at the point was trembling. "Even then, why would he go so far to help me? Why father?"

Theo shook his head. She was still his babe. "Because, didn't you do the same for others as well? Emilia, you have to know something about Subaru. He doesn't come from this place. Subaru's not from Lugnica. He comes from a place known as Earth, a country known as Japan." Emilia's face was filled with confusion. "Earth?" Theo nodded as his daughter. "Yes. If you really want to find out more about it, why don't you ask Subaru? He would be more than happy to answer your questions." They continued to embrace each other for several minutes until they both let go. "Speaking of which, I'll introduce you to several of my friends that I have made while I was away. Theo walked out of the room for a moment to notify Tiffania, Bidashal, and Luctiana on Discord. _"Attention all, I would like you to come to Emilia's room. I am introducing you all to her."_ They all replied on their Discord. Tiffania was excited. She was going to meet a fellow half elf. _"I'll be on my way there then. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."_ Luctiana was on her bed playing Fortnite on her Samsung Note 9, when suddenly, a Discord message from Theo pops up. This caused her to lose the match and she was pissed. "Damn it! Just when I was about to win the match too. What is it, Theo? It better be something important, because you caused me to lose my Fortnite match!" Luctiana looked at the message. _"Fine. I'll be there in a moment."_ Bidashal was the next to get the notification. _"Theo, I'll be arriving in a few minutes. Please wait."_ With that, they made their way up to the third floor. Eventually, all of them were there. Theo walked back in the room. "Here are my friends that I made." Theo walked in first, follow by the others. Emilia watched as Tiffania walked into the room.

She was shorter than her, and had pointy ears that pointed out horizontally. She still wore her green-elf like suit and had that long blonde hair. "Um….father, who's this young lady?" Theo looked at Tiffania. "That's Tiffania. She is around the same age as you. Also, she is a half-elf." Tiffania gave Emilia a smile. "Um…hello, Emilia-san. I'm Tiffania Westwood. I've known Theo for more than two years now." Emilia said nothing. _"Another half-elf? I wasn't the only one after all. She doesn't look like the elves for Elior Forest though."_ Then, Bidashal walked in. He had that brown hat, and the brown-like cloak. He has a long, light blonde like hair. "My name is Bidashal. You must be Emilia-sama. I heard things about you from your father." Emilia shook her head. "No need to be so formal, Bidashal-san. You're my father's friend after all." Just then, Luctiana walked in. She was the last of the people from Zero no Tsukaima to show up. She has light blonde hair, a fix complexion, and bright, sky-blue eyes. She also has pointed ears as well. "Emilia-sama. My name is Luctiana. I am Bidashal's niece. I guess since we are here with your father, we should chat for a bit."

Emilia placed her hand over her mouth. "So you two are related, right?" Luctiana and Bidashal nodded. Theo turned to his daughter. "I would also like to bring up several things regarding the management of Roswaal's mansion. You see Emilia, Roswaal was the one that took you up. When I found out that he was the one that was supporting you. I had suspicions about him. So I did my research when regarding to Roswaal. Sure enough, I was right. Roswaal was using both you and Subaru for his own ends. That end is to meet the Witch of Greed. He didn't care for the both of you, he used you like pawns. As a father, I couldn't bear to hear that. So I did what was necessary to solve the problem. That is, well, I decided to kill him, Roswaal, is no longer in this world. As for the person talking over Roswaal's duties and ownership of Roswaal's domain, he's already in the mansion. You will meet him in the dining room when we eating. Sorry about not protecting you from a person like Roswaal. Subaru and you didn't deserve this." Emilia was speechless. She couldn't believe that Roswaal, of all people, would be like this. Emilia closed her eyes. "This…this is a lot to take in right now." Theo nodded. "Yeah, it is. However, the new person that will be taking over actually wants to help you. He understands your struggles quite well, Emilia." The silver-haired half elf nodded. "I see. He's downstairs, right? Roswaal. He's no more. Father, how is this domain even going to run in the first place? I haven't seen this person yet." Luctiana shrugged. "You see, that's is a surprise."

Theo continued with Luctiana's explanations. "He has formulated a plan for you this domain, which is now under his control. We'll be discussing it at dinner. It will be regarding letting you playing catch up on what is going on in the past couple of days. I'll leave you to complete the rest of your studies, Emilia. When you're done, feel free to join us." Theo and the other elves left, closing the door. She sat on her bed for a couple of moments to digest the information that Theo presented to her. _"After being hated my numerous people. Puck was the only one that stuck by my side. And then, Subaru entered my life. I'm still a little disappointed at him for not keeping my promise. Promises are very important to a Spirit Arts user, and even a person like me could not keep calm when he trampled over them. And then, my father as returned, after I thought he was gone when I became self-aware. After all of this time, Roswaal didn't really care for me at all?! I can't believe him. The only one that I have left is Puck, my father, and Subaru, who is still getting treated at the capital. I still can't help and think it's all my fault. Whenever I am around him, he always pushes himself to do the impossible. I wished he didn't give me special treatment. I also set up the magic barrier in the village, even though I was scorned upon by the villages. Plus, Ram has given me nothing but yams for me to eat for the past day or so."_

At this moment in time, Subaru went to check on the kitchen. It was 5:30 PM, and he was on his OnePlus 6T phone, checking on the last news of Japan once again. _"Sigh, regarding Nvidia, they had to release that GT 1030 with DDR4. What a pile of shit that thing is. Who in the hell is going to buy that. I say, you don't buy it."_ He then went into the Puzzle and Dragons app to grind on the dungeons for 10 minutes. Rem was interested in what Subaru was doing on his phone. "Um, Subaru-kun, what are you doing?" Subaru replied while he was match orbs. "This right here is Puzzle and Dragons, one of the many games in the Play Store. Your objective in this game is to match the orbs. You see the colors on the screen. There are five colors, each corresponding to an element. Fire, water, wood, light, and dark. Each of them have their attributional strengths. Secondly, this is also a gatcha game, where you collect creatures, then you evolve them. Of course, I am only at the beginning stages of the game. As you go on, these dungeons will keep getting more difficult. There will be a point where I can die on one shot if I can't kill them on time, or you take their health below the threshold. It's free to play in Japan. In fact, Puzzle and Dragons is one of the most popular games right now. I would like for you to play it, but I think we should let you all get comfortable with your smartphone metia before we even try anything to do with mobile gaming." Rem simply nodded. Subaru's stomach at this point was begging for food. His stomach grumbled as a result of not eating for a while. "Damnit, right now at this time. Of course I am getting hungry. Emilia-tan must be getting peckish as well. I think we should call Ram in to assist the cooking. I'm not going to participate, since I am awful at it."

Rem said nothing, but took note of what Subaru said. She went out of the room to find Ram. As usual, Ram was doing her usual chores of cleaning the mansion. Rem told Ram that it's time to make dinner. Ram nodded and finished the last of what needs to be cleaned. Rem and Ram then made their way to the kitchen. There, Subaru was waiting for them. Rem started to prepare the ingredients that were going to be needed for the recipes. Since he was the new owner of the mansion, both Rem and Ram bowed to him. Subaru shook his head. "You don't need to do that. I'm not Roswaal. I'm your equal." Ram glared at Subaru. "Barusu, it's something that I have gotten used to doing to Roswaal when I see him. I'll try to stop doing that for you. Did you eat that yam I gave you?" Subaru nodded. "I was nibbling on it while Theo and I went for a walk. I'm also happy that Theo had reunited with Emilia-tan."

 _ **Dinner**_

Subaru then walked out to make his way to the dining room. It was 5:55 PM, according to Subaru's OnePlus 6T. _"Theo said to all of us that he wants all of us to meet at 6:00 PM at the dining room. We'll discuss on what needs to be done in the next couple of weeks or so."_ Subaru went into the dining room and turned on the lanterns to light the room. It was now bright. By now, the sun has already sunk beneath the horizon. Darkness was approaching, and night was fast upon them. To wait for the others, Subaru pulled out his OnePlus 6T. He was still playing Puzzle and Dragons. Subaru also knew that it would be over if Emilia saw his metia. After all, it is the case that has both Subaru and Emilia on it. Even if he was had a completely different appearance, Emilia would know who it was. Subaru put his phone lower to combat this. After five minutes, he has enough magic stones to do another roll in the Players Choice Godfest. Subaru decided to roll and see what he gets. The Rare Egg machine rolls, spitting out a diamond rarity egg. _"Come on, please, come on! Give me something good."_ What Subaru got, made him jump in joy, as he got one of the best leads in the game. _"Yes! YES! YES! Dark Metatron!"_ He started running around the room in circles. As he did that, the Zero no Tsukaima crew came into the dining room. Bidashal was confused. "What in the world is Subaru doing?" Theo looked at Subaru. "Bidashal, he must have gotten lucky at one of the gatcha games he is playing. He's the type of player to get excited over that stuff." Bidashal nodded as he stared at Subaru, who is still glued to his phone.

"I see. He is still an 18 year old kid on the inside. Even though you came from another world, another place, you will retain your same hobbies." Luctiana stepped out. "So, Subaru-san. What did you get this time? In your gatcha game?" Subaru stopped running. "Ah..ah…Luctiana-san. I got Dark Metatron. She is one of the best leads you can get in Puzzle and Dragons." Luctiana went up to Subaru and gave him a light pinch on the cheek. "Ow!" Luctiana was teasing Subaru. "You better not do that if you want Emilia to not know who you really are. She'll be arriving shortly, so it's best if you keep quiet." Subaru nodded and made their way to the spots in the dining table. Theo talked to Subaru. "As usual, my daughter will sit in her usual spot. Please keep that I mind." Subaru nodded. "Now, you all are here. I guess. Well, let's recap what happened so far today." Theo was the first to talk. "We killed the Witch Cult, we killed Satella and Roswaal. Which means that Subaru can talk about his Return by Death without any repercussions by the Witch of Envy." Subaru put his OnePlus 6T away. "That's right. And with that, the leadership of the domain has transferred to me." He was sitting in the former spot that used to be where Roswaal used to be.

Subaru continued with his statement. "I'm a former gamer as well, so don't expect me to be the best at leading. I'm still learning, about the customs of this place, this fantasy world. Also, I am also a Spirit Arts user in training, so that's why you don't see me use magic all the time. I want to conserve it, and use it when it's only necessary. I guess it's time we should…." Just then, Subaru heard the door open, and he went silent. There, he saw Emilia, walking towards the spot where she usually seats when she eats dinner. He began to sweat nervously. Subaru could feel it, he was starting to become a nervous wreck around Emilia. This was the first time Subaru has seen Emilia in this current timeline since their breakup in the capital. Subaru was completely silent in the entire time. He had never been this nervous around Emilia before. Subaru's heart rate also skyrocketed as well, it was unlike anything he had felt before. Normally, he could talk to Emilia without any problems, now he couldn't even get the world out. This could mean only one thing. Subaru's feelings for Emilia have gotten stronger, and he acts this way, out of fear that Emilia would not think of him highly. Subaru knew this feeling all too well when he was on Earth. Subaru was constantly comparing himself to his father, which then led him to become a NEET there. All that Subaru wanted to do there was let them disown him for being a failure. But they did not. _"It's best for me if Emilia-tan didn't know that I was here. I should be at the capital, getting healed. I'll just keep to myself, just like I did in middle school. You know, I need to stop wearing this mask of being like my father, and be myself."_ Subaru adjusted his glasses again. Emilia noticed the person that was sitting at Roswaal's spot. Emilia referred to her father again. "Um….who is the person sitting there, in Roswaal's spot?" Theo looked at Subaru. He scratched his head, trying to come up with a name.

Subaru didn't want Emilia to know his true identity. "That there…is Kazuma, a half-elf like you. He's the one that I said that is going to be in charge of Roswaal's domain from now on. From this point on, it's no longer known as Roswaal's domain. Get to know him. He's now the new head of the domain." Emilia continued to look at Kazuma. The first thing she noticed was his silver hair, blue eyes, and pointy ears like hers. She also noticed the attire, which was the most bizarre thing she has ever seen. His skin was also just as pale as hers. The person is also wearing a leather like jacket. She noticed that he has a flushed face. Emilia looked down, and noticed that he also had a blue crystal on his chest, much like her. That can mean only one thing to her. That means this person is a Spirit Arts user like her as well, someone with her abilities. She shook her head. _"Another Spirits Arts user? I have never seen this person before. Just who is he? Everyone was frozen in Elior Forest."_

Theo continued. "Kazuma does not specialize all of the same magic elements as Roswaal. He is specialized in Shadow magic. His secondary specialty is water element. As you can see over there, he seems to be a bit of a nervous wreck. The elves in the table looked at the person at hand. Emilia noticed it too. Why was he such a nervous wreck around her? Luctiana, trying to get Emilia to understand who actually the new leader is, told her a hint. "Emilia-sama, he isn't usually like this around us. He's only like this around you." This caused Subaru's face to turn even redder. He got out his OnePlus 6T and held it beneath the desk. He went on Discord and typed a message to Luctiana. _"What are you thinking?! She's going to find out it is me if you do that."_ Luctiana felt her phone vibrate, so she pulled it out to see what's new. It turns out that it was Subaru who sent her a message. Luctiana send Subaru a teasing emoji, which Subaru shook his head. Emilia noticed that Kazuma was looking down at something. "What is Kazuma doing?" Theo turned to his daughter. "Emilia, Kazuma is using his metia. He'll be explaining more about it later. Let's get started on what is actually been going on recently." Bidashal was the first one that started it off. The light in the middle of the table was lit up, and the lanterns were a blue color. "First of all, two days ago, we met Subaru up in the Capital. He was with Rem at the time. Emilia, do you want to know something about Subaru?" Emilia nodded. "Subaru, hated himself. He really hates himself. He was full of self-loathing." Emilia shook her head. "No…that's impossible. Subaru is not that kind of a person."

Theo disagreed with his daughter. "You want to know why he acted like that in the capital?! You should go talk to him. Even though you left Subaru in the capital, he is still part of your camp." A faint smile formed on Subaru, the human who became a half-elf only two days ago. _"I'm….I'm right here though."_ Emilia was silent. Theo was right. Subaru was still part of her camp. Even Emilia was affected by the argument, as she was thinking about Subaru every day. Tiffania was the next one to step in. "Subaru and Rem heard that there was an upcoming Witch Cult attack, as well as a White Whale attack." Emilia didn't say anything. "Subaru knew that you were the type to put others before herself. So you know what he did? He puts everyone else's safety in the village and you, Emilia, before himself." Theo nodded. "That's right! Subaru gathered the alliance of Crusch and Anastasia to fight against the White Whale. We were involved in that battle as well. Subaru was the leader of that force. With his help, we blew the White Whale away." Emilia was in shock. "Subaru did that? He really did that? But...how?"

Theo continued. "That's Subaru for you. He also led us to wiping out the Witch Cult around Arlam as well, which we did killed all of them in one shot. That was early in the morning, when you were still sleeping. Since we have gotten involved in the camp, we might as well join you." Emilia shook her head. "But where's Subaru? Shouldn't he be getting treatment with Ferris at the capital?" Luctiana shook her head. "No, Subaru is not at the capital. His treatment has already been completed. In fact, both Subaru and Rem have returned to the mansion. Emilia-sama, do you want to know where Subaru is at? Subaru is in this room. Right now." Subaru's face turned even redder. Emilia looked at this 'Kazuma' who had his face up, and was flushed. She took a closer look at his face, which looked familiar to her. Even though he had glasses, his facial structure was exactly like Subaru's. Emilia did the one thing she did when she wanted to know something. "Subaru?" 'Kazuma' decided that there was no point in staying silent anymore. To let Emilia know he is Subaru, he held his metia up, that was a case that had both Subaru and Emilia on it. "I'm…..sorry…Emilia-tan…I didn't mean to keep it a secret from…you. After what happened to me in the capital, I was afraid of you knowing that I have returned here. About what I have become." He continued to mumble to himself, ashamed that he had revealed who he truly was right in front of Emilia.

Emilia wanted to ask Subaru so many questions. "Subaru, what happened to you?" Subaru was silent for a couple of seconds. The other elves turned to him. "What happened to me…was. Um…..Emilia-tan, Theo came up to me in the capital. He was masked at the time. Theo offered me a full restoration of my mana gate, as well as new powers, with a cost. Like I said before, I was powerless. I could not bear to be powerless anymore. With nothing to lose, I decided to accept his proposal. I am no longer human, Emilia-tan. I am a half-elf, like you. This also means I am a Spirit Arts user like you, but I am inexperienced, as I have only been in the form for a couple of days now." Emilia looked at Subaru. "I…I see. You were the one that brought my father to me. Thank you Subaru….for let me see my father again. But, we must talk about that broken promise!" Subaru was taken aback. "Emilia-tan. Wasn't that six days ago? Come on." Emilia kept on going. She was pouting. "Subaru, you idiot. You stubborn, selfish, bratty, overenthusiastic, bad-tempered rascal. Always worrying about others when they don't ask for it, don't know your place. So soft that you'd support a detested half-elf. You step forward instead of me when I get spoken down on and depressed, act rashly, denounced, reckless." Subaru groaned massively. "Ughuhhuhhuhgh." Emilia continued. ""You don't give clear answers I ask you questions, you're a coward who uses vague words to escape. You're a moron who saves me when I'm having trouble even after our big fight. You're a scoundrel who gives me the answer I want when I'm hopeless and want to do something. You're a lazybones who slept while everyone else was running around cleaning things up after everything was over. Subaru, you dunderhead."

Everyone at the table, except for Emilia and Subaru, was laughing. Subaru hung his head down in shame at the broken promise. He shook his head in shame. When that was done, Subaru looked at all of the elves, and Emilia and TIffania. "Since I am now the head of the mansion, I'll be talking about my past. About what I was doing….before I got here. Before I even got to Lugnica." Emilia nodded. "Subaru, my father told me about how you are from a place called 'Japan', from a place called Earth." Subaru turned to his beloved Emilia. "Yes, that right. I was from that place. I spend most of my time there before coming to Lugnica. I didn't get here until I was yanked away from there by someone." Emilia was curious. "Who was this person that yanked you away?" Subaru closed his eyes. "It was Satella." Emilia gasped. "Satella?! The Jealous Witch? She can do something like that?!" Subaru nodded. "Yeah, she can. However, before we talk about that, we have to talk about the time that I was in Japan. It wasn't the best of times, as my childhood wasn't really sunshine and rainbows. With that, Subaru got ready to tell his backstory to the Zero no Tsukaima elves, and especially to Emilia, who would learn about Subaru and the hardships that he had to face both before arriving in Lugnica, and after, filled with death after death. It wasn't going to be easy for Subaru to tell his story, but he must get his point across to the others.


	10. Subaru's Past & Into to Modern Tech

_**In the dining room of Subaru's mansion (formerly Roswaal's mansion)**_

It was around 6:30 PM now, and the meals were ready. Just as Subaru was going to start talking about his past, Rem and Ram came in with the food on the cart, like they usually do. The dinner was the same as any other meal that the Roswaal's domain had in the past. Tiffania, Luctiana, Theo, Emilia, Bidashal, and Subaru all grabbed their dinner. Both Rem and Rem walked behind Subaru and stood there, like they did for their master named Roswaal. All of the members were looking at Subaru, waiting for him to start to tell his story. That included Emilia. "Well? Are you going to get started, Subaru?" Luctiana asked. Subaru sighed. "Okay, okay." He took a deep breath, then looked at everyone. "Before I came…here, I was living my life in Japan, near the capital." Emilia was the first one to ask Subaru a question. "Capital? Of a place called 'Japan'?" Subaru nodded. "That's right, Emilia-tan. The name of the capital is Tokyo. There is so many people there that you can't even begin to fathom. As for me, I grew up in the 'suburbs' of Tokyo." Once again, Emilia was confused. These names are completely foreign to her, so she must ask Subaru what these words mean. "'Suburbs'? Subaru, what does that mean? I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about." Subaru tried to clarify what he meant by that word. "Emilia-tan, when I say 'suburbs', I mean a smaller city of sorts. Remember how Lugnica's capital has 5 districts with the smaller cities around? It's the same thing here in Tokyo. Smaller cities surround Tokyo. I came from Chiba, a city that is close to Tokyo. Before that, I moved from a region called Hokkaido, which is the northern part of Japan. Emilia, you may remember me saying that. That is because that is where I came from. Where I was born."

There are transport methods to get from my place to the capital, but I'll talk about that later. Regarding my life before I got here, I was born to Kenichi Natsuki, who is my father, and Naoko Natsuki, my mother. In my hometown, we would be considered middle to upper-middle class. To Lugnican citizens, they would see us as royalty. It was an easy life." Emilia didn't say anything. Bidashal was curious about something. "When you said it was easy, then why did you hate yourself?" Subaru shook his head. "Why? It has something to do with my father. You see, my father is very well known and liked in the town, and me, being the son of that father, naturally felt the pressure of trying to live up to my father." Emilia closed her eyes. She was mumbling something. _"Subaru…"_ Subaru didn't notice and continued. "Seeing that my father acted in a goofy manner around me, I imitated his behavior, because that is what I believed made him liked around the town. Emilia-tan, Rem, Ram, what you should know is that kids do not start working immediately in my hometown." They were all perplexed. "What?" Subaru nodded. "It's true, kids are enrolled in an education system when they are young, and are released when they are 18. From there, they either go into the workforce, or go into secondary education to pursue their dreams. Our fate is to become a working member of society, a cog in the system." Emilia was interested to hear Subaru's backstory.

Subaru kept recalling his past. "I used to have a lot of friends when I just started my education. My dad was my idol. I wanted to be like him. So I acted like him. At first, I was ahead of everyone in my class. But….." Emilia looked at Subaru with her purple-blue eyes. "But?" Subaru looked at Emilia. "But that only made me look like a fool in class. As I got older, my personality started to drive away all of my friends. I was no longer first at everything. Eventually, I had no friends at all." Luctiana put her hand on her chin, and tapped the other hand on the table as she was eating the food. "Subaru, what happened to you after that? After you lost all of your friends for trying to be like your dad?" The half-elf sitting in Roswaal's spot let a frown form on his face. Subaru was ashamed for what he had done. "Well….after that, I kept myself throughout my middle school days. And then, it was time for high school. Trying to reinvent myself there, trying not to live under the pressure of my dad, I make a complete fool of myself there. I've always have that thought of people thinking of my as, 'he's that father's son, after all'. That has always been on the thought of my mind." Bidashal was confused. "Subaru, what did you even do to make a fool out of yourself?" Subaru let out a sigh. "Bidashal, what I did was cross-dress as a girl." Luctiana let out a laugh. "Cross dressed as a girl?! Subaru-san, what the hell were you thinking in the first place?" Subaru shrugged, as if he didn't really want to talk about it. "I honestly don't know why. All I know was that after I did that, everyone started to ignore me. As a result, I developed a severe anxiety in which I was afraid to go to school. I started to skip going to school once a day, then twice a day. Eventually, it snowballed into full-on hikikomori." Emilia was still eating as she heard Subaru talking about how he started to skip school. Once again, another new word that Emilia heard for the first time in her life.

"'Hikikomori'? Subaru, what does that mean? I'm not sure what a 'hikikomori' means." Subaru put his hand out in front, "Sorry about that Emilia-tan. Your father will explain what the word means." Theo turned to his daughter, who was looking at him with curiosity. "Emilia, what Subaru-san meant is that a person who is called a 'hikikomori' is a person who withdraws from social life, often spending their time in their house. In other words, they rarely come out of their house. Yeah, when I said he hated himself, this is why he hated himself. For failing to live up to be like his father." Emilia looked at Subaru. "Subaru, is this all really true? Did you really isolate yourself?" Subaru's face was full of sadness. He didn't want Emilia to see his weaker side, but he had to show it to her if he loved her, as she won't understand. Subaru nodded slowly. "Emilia-tan. Yeah. That is the truth. Didn't you said you can't understand if I don't tell you? Well, now you know why I was acting like that. I….I….feel ashamed of myself. I'm sorry." Emilia face was also filled with a slight sorrow as well.

" _Oh Subaru. I have never seen this side of you before. I lashed out back at the capital without hearing your side."_ Subaru looked at Emilia. It seemed that she was thinking about something, so Subaru tried to ask her. "Uh…Um….Emilia-tan. What's wrong?" Emilia waved her hand as she heard Subaru. "Oh, it's nothing. Please don't worry about it, Subaru." Subaru kept staring at her. "If so, feel free to tell me, Emilia-tan. Besides, while I was at my home, I pretty much did absolutely nothing. Before you jump on me, playing video games, manga, and watching anime does not count as doing something productive!" Emilia was hit with a whole new wave of terms that Subaru used. Of course, she was going to be lost on what Subaru was trying to say. Tiffania saw that Emilia was confused, so she clarified what Subaru was trying to say. "Emilia-san, what Subaru-san meant by 'video games', 'manga', and 'anime' are forms of entertainment. You know how kids play together to have fun….right? Those three words are three different types of mediums that serve the purpose as entertainment." Emilia nodded, as she understood what Tiffania was saying. "Tiffania-sama, Bidashal-san, Luctiana-sama, your ears are really pointy. I haven't see any elves like you around Lugnica." Bidashal nodded. "That's right. In our place, we are a different type of elf, so we have different ears. However, we will most likely face discrimination due to the events that occurred here a while back."

Emilia nodded. She recalled her experiences going to the village, and they rebutted her as Emilia tried to get to come to the mansion, where they will be safe. Subaru was listening. When they were done, Subaru continued. "And that's what I continued to do, until I went to the convenience store one night. For the next several months, I did nothing. I wasted away my life like a piece of shit. My parents weren't around, so it was easy to live a life like that. Also, the anxiety of going to school played a role as well. I remember my mom telling me to clean the cup, but I left it uncleaned as I headed to the convenience store." Theo facepalmed. "Subaru, you used to be so lazy that you didn't even bother to clean one single cup?!" Once again, Subaru felt guilt in him. He gripped his blue crystal, in which Edan was still inside. "Yeah, Theo. I was that lazy. It wasn't a life that I should have lived in the first place. That one day was also a day where I played video games in my room all day. Not a productive thing to do. There, I bought some food, which were ramen and a bag of chips for 363 yen. After that, I walked out of the store. It was night at the time, around 8:00 PM. From that point, everything then was history following that. The place around me distorted, and I ended up in Lugnica, around noon, I think. Yeah, around noon. The sun was bright and high in the sky at that time. Placed down right in the middle of the capital of Lugnica. I know, I couldn't believe it at first."

Subaru kept looking down. Thinking about it, he didn't even had a chance to say goodbye to his parents. "The last thing, my mom said….before I left….the store, was that 'Have a nice day'. I didn't say anything at the time, I was not in the best mood. That…was….the biggest mistake that I have….ever made." Subaru struggled to keep it together, as he felt tears starting to form on his eyes. He stayed silent for a couple of minutes. "That….would be the last time that I saw both of my parents. I found myself in Lugnica, with no money, no place to go, and no friends or family. I was alone, in a place that was unfamiliar to me" Subaru let out a sad smile. "I was simply a homeless person, with no purpose in this world, until everything changed one day." Emilia put her hand on her cheek and looked up, then back at Subaru. "One day, Subaru?" Subaru nodded. "Yes. Emilia-tan, I used to have this ability I called the following: Return by Death." Emilia was confused. The term that she just heard from Subaru seemed like a scary one. "Return….Return by Death?! Subaru, what do you mean by that?" Subaru, looking at Emilia, closed his eyes. "Return by Death, is an ability that activates when you die. When you die, you are taken back by a certain amount of time, repeating the same events over and over again until you get past it. In other words, you are immortal." Emilia shook her head. "Subaru, is that why you couldn't tell me…back at the capital?" Subaru shook his head. "Yes, Emilia-tan. This power comes at a terrible price. The memories and conversations you had are gone in an instant. The only one who can remember is yourself. You can imagine how hard it was for someone like me, an ordinary person who was given with this cursed ability. I felt….I felt like I was going to lose hope….I saw horrific things, that no one should ever experience, things that are better to never be described in the first place. I suffered so much during that time. I was miserable."

The group kept eating. BIdashal, Theo, Luctiana, and Tiffania kept quiet because they already knew what horror Subaru went through. Emilia, Rem, and Ram don't know, however. Rem was the first one to comment. "Subaru-kun, what do you exactly mean?" Subaru turned to Rem, who was standing beside him. "Rem, I…..I have died….three times in the past week, on the 7th and 6th days." Emilia was wondering something. "Died….died three times? Subaru, does that mean you were going through the exact same events three times in a row?" Subaru looked up in the dining room, then looked back down. "It….it all began…back at the capital, back when Emilia-tan left me to be treated at Crusch's mansion with Ferris. For the first four days, everything was normal. I didn't do much for the first three days, mostly staying in the mansion. I went out on the 4th day. By that time, a billboard was posted about all the Royal Election candidates. On the firth day however, Crusch told me and Rem that there was troubling movement within the former Roswaal's domain. That movement turned out to be nothing but the sinister Witch Cult." Emilia looked at Subaru in a sad manner. _"It looks like Subaru is telling the truth. There's no way he is lying. It's too detailed, too real."_ Subaru continued in a somber tone.

"Rem got the message from Ram that the mansion was in trouble. Naturally, I decided to head back there, even though it would break the contract that Emilia-tan had with Crusch." Ram shook her head. "Barusu, what happened afterwards? To the mansion? To the villagers." Subaru wasn't happy whatsoever. "The…..the route was going to be a half a day, but we had to take the longer route, which takes about two days. The White Whale was in our way. Rem…she put me to sleep, on the fifth day. By the time I returned to Roswaal's domain, it was too late." Emilia looked at Subaru. His hands were shaking, as if he was struggling to talk about this subject. "Too late?" Subaru was barely holding back his tears. "Emi…Emilia-tan. Once I got there, I was greeted by the Witch Cult, who they all bowed to me. I had no idea why at the time. I was running towards Arlam village, all night, into the 7th day. The…dawn of the 7th day. I found…out..the village…..was….was….mas..massacred! And t…then, I approach the manor, Rem….she…w..was gone. *sniff* *sniff*. And so was…I don't want to think about it." Subaru was trying his best to fight back the tears of recalling everything. "Everyone one was dead. Everyone. I want to show you this thing from my Metia, Emilia-tan. Rem, Ram." With that, Subaru got out his One Plus 6T and typed in the following in the Google search bar: 'Re: Zero episode 14 witch cult'. Subaru went to the image that showed the Witch Cult members surrounding Subaru, as he was making his way back to the mansion. He first showed it to both Ram and Rem. "Huh?!" They were both confused. Subaru pointed at his smartphone. Ram narrowed her eyes to look at the picture. "No doubt about it. This painting that Barusu has shown us is the Witch Cult."

 _ **Subaru's recall of the loops**_

Subaru then showed the picture to Emilia. She had no idea what Subaru had in his hand, but she looked at the 'painting' that Ram mentioned. Emilia asked Subaru about it. "Subaru, what's this?" Subaru started to explain. "This is what I came across. By the time I was there, they have already killed everyone off. As for the metia, I'll explain it to you later." Subaru then walked back to his seat. "I was taken aback…with grief and horror. I decided to check the mansion to see what was going on. The mansion…was dead silence. Furthermore, there was overturned furniture. And then, I found Rem and Petra….both of them…dead. Petra…no. I can't say the deals. It's too gruesome. I then…found Emilia-tan's….white flower on the ground…covered in blood. So I followed the blood trail, which led to the basement of the mansion. It was ice cold." Rem looked at Subaru. "What happened afterwards, Subaru-kun?" Subaru shook his head. "I touched the frozen door, and before I knew it, I was dead. The last thing that I head was that I was too late. Most likely, that was Puck. And then, Return by Death kicked in. It sent me back, about three days. So, in other words, I had only three days to…stop the Witch Cult, to stop the massacre. To stop this nonsense. Not only that, I felt powerless to stop it. I had no abilities to speak of at that time." Emilia shook her head. "Subaru. In other words, you were in…this 'loop' of sorts." Subaru clinched his fists. "Yeah, I was. My sanity was failing. I wanted to stop the Witch Cult. It was the right thing to do. If I knew that tragedy was impending, I would do something to stop it. But I was far too gone at that time. Rem took me back to see you. Once again, we went the same route, only to be attacked by the Witch Cult once again. This time, they took me to the cave, where I meet their leader, Sloth. He reveled himself to Petelgeuse, which I didn't know at the time. And Rem was, well…tortured to death. Once again, the Witch Cult has killed everyone in the village, and the mansion. And I died, to Puck, again. You have no idea how desperate I was becoming in the third loop."

Emilia and the others were listening to Subaru telling his story. Subaru shook his head. "All that I wanted…wanted…was to use my Return by Death….to save people's lives. That's all that I ever wanted. In Japan, and in our society, from my hometown, we help out others, regardless of the circumstances. We were taught to help others, because that was the right thing to do. You want to know what happened in the third loop?" Ram looked at Subaru. "Go on Barusu. Emilia-sama would like to hear it too." Subaru looked at Emilia, who pleaded at Subaru. "Please Subaru, let us hear it. Let Rem and Ram hear your story as well." Subaru nodded at all three of them. "As you wish. I tried to ask for help from the Royal Selection candidates, but they all turned me down. You know, my self-worth got even worse, as if my sense of worth was already low enough in the first place. Anastasia was the only one that could be considered helping, but she gave me the carriage. I had to get back to the mansion, to warn everyone about the impending Witch Cult attack. So this time, we took the shorter route, which was much more dangerous, since the White Whale was there at the time. As expected, Rem and I ran into the White Whale, and Rem put me to sleep, so that she could protect me. When I woke up, she was gone. Otto was in the carriage with me, and he forgot about Rem. By that time, Rem was erased from existence. Otto pushed me of his carriage, so that he could live. At that time, I….feared…dying…dying was always a painful experience. I didn't want that again. By the time the White Whale's fog cleared up, Otto was gone. I saw a Witch Cult dagger on the carriage. It must have been the case that Otto was ambushed. I was battened up, with injuries that were pretty bad. When it was daylight again, I was back in Roswaal's domain. The kids were the first one to greet me. Most of all, I was glad to make it their when I was still alive. Worn down from my injuries, I passed out right there. When I woke up, I was back at the mansion. Ram was right beside me. Emilia-tan, the one that healed me….was you in that loop."

A small smile came from Emilia. Subaru smiled as well. "So when I was there, I asked if Ram knew Rem. Since she got wiped by the Whale, her existence is wiped too. No one has any memory of her. I was…so desperate, to escape…to escape this…suffering…of death…of pain. So I went to Emilia-tan's room to try to get her to leave the mansion, because the Witch Cult was going to come. What that didn't work, I wanted to tell Emilia-tan about Return by Death. Of course, this is before I am free to tell you about this ability." Both of them also found a seat, as they were tired of sitting. "Subaru-kun, what happened after that?" Subaru's head went down. "D…Disaster struck. S…Satella…..killed…..E…E…Emi…" Subaru couldn't hold back anymore, as tears came rolling down his face. He didn't want to show this side to Emilia, but he did." Emilia came rushing over to comfort Subaru, as he had his head on the table, with his arm covered to hide his weakness. "Subaru…..I'm….I'm right here. You don't have to worry about it. I'm right here." Theo looked at Subaru. _"This kid has been through quite a lot. I feel sorry for him."_ Subaru was shaking real bad. Even Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal noticed. It took a good ten minutes for Subaru to calm down. By now, it was around 7:00 PM. Subaru tried to wash the dry tears from his face, and sighed.

"Well, after that, I was with Emilia-tan's..bo..body for a long time. Beatrice, sent me out of the mansion, along with Emilia's body. And then, Sloth and the Witch Cult members surrounded us. Due to my powers getting stronger, I could see his hands. It was a sight that no one should see. They were prepared to rip her body apart. Puck, came to save his daughter. So, he wiped out of the all of the members of the Witch Cult. Puck, he even killed Sloth. That cat transformed into his true form, and wiped them out. And then, he turned to me. Puck did." Emilia looked at Subaru. Puck at this moment was still sleeping. "Subaru, what did Puck say to you? During that 'loop' of sorts?" Subaru shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it, but had no choice. Subaru continued. "Puck in his true form told me that I had committed three sins. The first one was that I broke my promise to Emilia. He also told me I don't seem to understand how important a promise is to a spirits-art user. You want to know why I don't seem to understand?! BECAUSE I WASN'T TOLD ABOUT THAT! I came from a place that has NO MAGIC, NO SPIRIT-ARTS users. What?! That isn't even fair in the first place. Secondly, Puck said I returned to the mansion against her wishes. Are you SERIOUS? Everyone was going to die! So what am I going to do? GO with Emilia's wishes, and let everyone in the village and in the mansion die?! I CAN'T DO THAT! No one in their right mind would do that! Saving everyone in the mansion and the village takes priority! And then, to drop the kicker, Puck had the audacity to say I let Lia die. What….I'm a human, not someone who has resurrection abilities. I know damn well if I had those powers, I would have used them already! To say that I let Lia die is ridiculous! I'm just a former hikki-NEET from Japan. It's not my fault that happened! He said that I was slothful. I was just doing my best! Trying my best. What else could I have done! And then, I froze to death, by Puck. Again."

Most of all, his self-worth was dropping even further from Puck's statement. Emilia looked at Subaru. "And you returned, to that store, for the third time now? Subaru, what happened after that?" Subaru looked down at himself. What he was about to say next was going to be filled with shame. "I…I almost made the exact same mistake that I had made before. That is, running away. Running away from his problems, like a coward. It was something that I was good at, running away from my problems, despite having Return by Death. Just like I did in Japan, I was about to do the same thing here, when I was stuck in this loop. How can I even think of doing something like that in the first place?! But despite my plans, Rem said that I was her hero, even when I hated myself. I'm sorry….Emilia-tan. I was too hard on myself, saying that I was a useless piece of trash, but I'm not. It's me, having horrible self-esteem issues, letting myself be my worst enemy. I have always viewed myself as a small, pathetic, piece of trash who was worried out how he looked to others around him. I'm just a former human from Japan, living an easy life on the couch…playing games all day. "

Subaru let out a sad smile at Emilia. She was eating the last bits of the food. Emilia's face was sad as well, now realizing how hard Subaru was trying and how much he hated himself. Everyone followed suit, and Rem and Ram cleaned up the dining area after everyone was done. Subaru cleared his throat. "Well, after that, I regained by self-esteem, and grouped up everyone to fight against the Witch Cult and the White Whale. With the weapons that these elves have, we wiped them out with little trouble. They didn't stand a chance against us. Well, Crusch and Ferris and the others left to return to their specific factions. With Roswaal gone, I'll like to introduce you guys to several new things that we will be integrating into this place in the next couple of weeks." Subaru sat and began walking around. Luctiana encouraged Subaru to try something. "Tell everyone here what you are planning." Subaru nodded. "Emilia-tan, Ram, you may have been wondering what this metia I have is in the first place. Subaru then got out his One Plus 6T and held it up. Emilia looked at the metia. _"It's that same metia that Subaru was holding. What is that thing?"_ Subaru cleared his throat. "This here is not a metia. It is what my place calls technology." Emilia was confused. "Technology? I want to understand Subaru, but I can't." Theo cleared his throat so that he could talk to his daughter. "Emilia, the word technology is the knowledge of techniques, processes, and the like of such things, or it can be integrated into the device without detailed knowledge of how it works. That right there is what Subaru's place called it, a 'smartphone'. You can say it is a highly advanced metia that makes the Communication Mirrors look bad." Emilia nodded and looked at Subaru. "Is it true? This…'smartphone'. It is from your place?"

 _ **The smartphone is introduced**_

Subaru nodded as he took a long look at his OnePlus 6T. "Yes, it is from my place…Emilia-tan. In fact, almost everyone has their own smartphone/phone device that allows for communication. Since it'll be hard explaining things to you, I think it is better that I show and tell." With that, Subaru moved his chair so that he will be right by Emilia. Her cheeks turned a little red due to how close Subaru was. Unconsciously, Subaru was also flushed as well. His heart was beating quite quickly as well, despite his best attempts to calm down. Subaru pulled out his One Plus 6T to show it to Emilia. "Emilia-tan, this is a smartphone called the One Plus 6T. The '6T' references the model number of the device. Watch me, it's going to be like magic." Emilia nodded and watch as Subaru turned on his screen. He then placed his right thumb onto the screen, activating the in-display fingerprint sensor and taking him to the main phone menu screen. Emilia was amazed. She hasn't seen anything like this before. "Subaru, that is magic for sure, right? Throughout my life, I have not even come across something like this before." Subaru nodded. "Yes, this is how you can unlock this 'smartphone' metia. There is also another way to do it, Emilia-tan." Subaru then locked the smartphone screen again, turning it black. Emilia noticed it. "Subaru, it turned black again." Subaru looked at Emilia. "It's designed to, upon pressing a button." Subaru looked at Emilia, turned the phone on, and turned his face to the screen. Due to the Face Screen Unlock feature, it took Subaru to the main page. Emilia shook her head. "Subaru…..did you….just turn on that metia by looking at that thing?" Subaru was happy to show this.

Theo was looking at Subaru introducing Emilia to the smartphone. He chuckled in silence. _"So, my daughter is getting a taste at this new technology. Let's hope this helps her with the Royal Elections. She has no idea how potent this thing is. I know that Subaru will give her own personal phone to play with in the future. This is going to be a huge boon for her."_ At this point, Subaru began to show off to Emilia. She had a few questions of her own. "Subaru, how does this thing even work? You seem to have…hang of things." Subaru replied as he began to demonstrate by swapping the screen. "Watch, Emilia-tan. This metia operates by gestures and touch. In other words, using your hands to navigate around." Subaru swiped left and right, causing the screen to go to the next page that displayed the apps on the screen. Emilia was shocked that a device like this could have existed in Subaru's world. "Just…by touch? And Subaru, what are those…things? There's a lot of things I don't understand." Subaru looked at the screen and point to one of the many icon's on his One Plus 6T. "Emilia-tan, you mean the icons? They are called 'applications' or 'apps' for short. Think of it is this. The smartphone is one metia, but there are things called 'apps' that have their own function. In other words, a metia within a metia. I'll demonstrate one of the functions right now?" Subaru turned to Theo. "Theo, can I have a little help? I want to demonstrate to your daughter on how the smartphone works. Can I get your phone number?" Theo let out a smile on his face. "Sure, Subaru, I'll give you my phone number. It is: 456-8942." Emilia was confused at what her father was doing at the moment. "Phone number?" Theo looked at his daughter. "It's a special 7 digit number combination that allows for other people to talk with me. Subaru and I will show you how it works." Subaru went to the phone app, with Emilia watching. Ram was also interested in seeing what Subaru and Theo were about to do next.

In fact, she was watching over Emilia and Subaru the entire time. Emilia shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. _"Subaru went into that thing, by touching it. Maybe…I…can give some to the villagers as well."_ Subaru began to dial Theo's phone number. He called Theo. The phone was ringing. Subaru put the phone on his right ear. In a few seconds, Theo got a ring on his Note 9 and picked it up. "Hello, Subaru-san. Testing, testing, can you hear me?" The voice coming through Subaru's phone was loud and clear. "Theo-san, I can hear you loud and clear. This test is a success?" From Emilia's point of view, she saw Subaru was able to communicate with Theo in a similar manner to the Communication Mirrors that she used in the capital. To Emilia though, this metia looks like it could have done a lot more than just communicate with other people. "I see. Subaru, so this is a different form of the Communication Mirror?" Subaru shrugged his shoulders to Emilia. "Not exactly, Emilia-tan. It can do more than just talk between two people. In fact, it can do way, way more. You can even install 'apps' into this as well. You aren't stuck with the default ones. You can install anything you want in this."

Subaru wanted to demonstrate to Emilia the phone capabilities. "When you get good enough, you can do this, getting from one metia to the next metia." Emilia watched as he was opening apps and closing the rapidly, looking at stuff, typing stuff fast, closing that app. It went on for about 15 seconds. When done, Subaru turned to Emilia. "What I did there was rapid multitasking. But most important of them all, this metia is information at your fingertips." Emilia's frowned. She was lost on what Subaru was trying to say. "Information? At your fingertips?" Subaru let out a smile. "That's right, this metia allows me to look up any information that I want right now. For example, I can go into this metia called, 'Chrome' to access what is known in my place as the 'World Wide Web', a massive database of information. Think of it as a library in Lugnica's capital, or Betty's library." Emilia nodded. Slowly, she began to understand. "Subaru, you were going so fast, it's like you have been living with this type of metia for quite a long time." Subaru's expression turned into excitement. "Emilia-tan! They have information about us! About Lugnica! I would like to show you!" Emilia was curious. "Subaru, please show me. I can't read the writing on that metia, so you can translate it for me, okay?" Subaru nodded. He turned to his One Plus 6T and pulled out Chrome. He closed the last tab and open a new one. Subaru went into the Re:Zero wiki. There, he went straight for the Emilia page. He then showed it to Emilia. She took a closer look at the thing. A gasp came from her. She pointed at the screen. "That's…..that's me. Why am I in there?" Subaru explained. "That there, is what the 'World Wide Web' has. It has information on everything, including you. Shall I read it to you, Emilia-tan?" Emilia nodded her head in approval. Subaru began to translate the article for Emilia. "This says that you are a half-elf, and a candidate to become the 42nd King of Lugnica. It also says that you are around 107 years old, with silver hair and purple blue eyes. You have a relative listed on there, but for some reason, Theo isn't included, it's only Fortuna, your aunt. Hmm, there is also a history part there as well. It said that you lived with Fortuna, in Elior Forest, on your father's side. Can you remember that?"

Emilia was silent for a couple of seconds. She was trying to remember. Emilia could remember some bits, but not all of them. "I think so, Subaru. But I don't remember the exact details behind it." Subaru kept going. "It said that one day, both Pandora and Regulus attacked the Elior Forest, Geruse (known as Sloth), and accidentally killed Fortuna by Pandora's illusion. As a result, it said that you froze the entire forest, along with yourself. It went on to say that several years before the start of the election, Puck found you, unfrozen you, and began to act as your surrogate father and mentor. Well, more like mentor now that your real father is here with us." Emilia nodded. "Whatever you said to me, all of that is true. Puck found me and I formed a contract with him." Subaru kept looking at the article for any useful information. "It also seems to me that you stayed together in Elior Forest for a couple of years due to hostility of nearby villages and towns. Then, Roswaal found you and offered you to become the 42th King of Lugunica to save the citizens of Eilor Forest with the blood of Volcanica." Theo stood up to stretch his legs, as he was sitting in one position for far too long now. Meanwhile, both Tiffania and Luctiana were on their Note 9, as their attention span isn't the best. They were looking up new ways to improve themselves in Fortnite. _"Tiffania, there is a new mode going on. Shall we play it right now? Subaru is currently explaining things to Emilia-sama right now, things that we already know."_ The blonde half-elf nodded. _"I feel bad for doing this, not paying attention to him, but let's get going and play some Duos."_ Both Luctiana and Tiffania began playing Fortnite. Emilia shook her head again. Everything that Subaru said was true. "I still don't have the understanding of what this 'World Wide Web' is, but it somehow has information about me. Subaru, this metia you call a 'smartphone' is definitely something." Theo was silent. _"I knew it, Fortuna didn't make it. If I was there, maybe she…..no. I can't think about that. The past is in the past. My sister wants me to move ahead. I know that she wants me to move ahead in the first place. That's the kind of person she is."_

Theo turned to Subaru. "Even then, there seems to be prejudice in every town, every village that my daughter came across. It must have been very hard for Emilia to go through all of this. Satella though is the cause of this. If she was a beast human, they would receive the brunt of the discrimination." There was sadness in Emilia's eyes. Theo caught to it, "Emilia, it's not your fault. It's Satella fault. Also, there is something I like to mention in regards to Subaru's 'special treatment' of you." Emilia's purple blue eyes looked at her father. "'Special treatment?'" Theo nodded. "You said it like it was a bad thing, my daughter. You see, 'special treatment' from Japan means a good thing, because they don't have this prejudice crap that Lugnica has at the moment. In Japan, 'special' treatment is a good thing. So please, go easy on Subaru. He has been through quite a lot over the past month or so." Subaru nodded. "Anything else you would like to know about this 'smartphone'?" Emilia spoke up. "Um, Subaru, what is this 'game' thing you are talking about in the first place?" Subaru looked at his phone. "I'll explain that to you later. Ram, and Emilia-tan, do you want to know more about where I came from?" Emilia nodded her head in a 'yes' way. Ram looked at Subaru, the new lord of the domain, "Barusu, tell me. Tell Emilia-sama about what is it like over there. In this so called placed named Japan, Barusu." A smile came from Subaru. "Allright, you asked for it. Well, the most important thing to know, is that my place, there is no magic. Magic exists only in fairy tales. There is no such thing as mana gates." This shocked both of them, as they lived in a world where there is magic. Emilia asked Subaru. "There…there's no magic in that place, Subaru? In Japan."

 _ **More about Japan**_

Subaru nodded as he field with his fingers. "Yes, there is no magic. There is no Spirit Arts users whatsoever. There isn't even demi humans on Earth. It's just humans. Nothing more, nothing less." Emilia was silent as Subaru continued. She wanted to ask something about Subaru's place, regarding the method of transportation. In this world, Emilia uses the dragon carriages to around from place to place. "Subaru, does your place have dragon carriages?" Subaru shook his head. "Emilia-tan, my place used to have carriages as a means for transportation. However, they were last seen in common use around 100 years ago. Today, they are rendered obsolete by what are known as 'automobiles' or 'cars'." Once again, yet another new term that Emilia has never heard of before. "'Car'? 'Automobile'?" Subaru clarified on this wording. "They are transportation carriages, which are operated by the driver. Automobiles are composed of metals, and they don't use land dragons to move it. Rather, they use what are called 'engines', which require fuel to operate. Cars drive much, much faster than a dragon carriage. Not only that, but they are much more agile than carriages of the past that we use. Cars are the primary means of transportation now, from where I am. If I had a car, I might be able to operate it without any problems. I was on the brink of getting a driver's license." Emilia nodded. She then turned to Theo, tilting her head in the process.

"Father, is what Subaru is saying is true?" Theo let out a small smile towards his daughter. "Emilia, Subaru is right. From where he is from, carriages have been deemed obsolete. There are so many forms of transportation that are so fast, that I bet they can take you from Lugnica to the other nations in around in just a manner of hours." Emilia was amazed at what Subaru was telling her. "To think that there were so many forms of getting around. Subaru, you are one weird person." Subaru scratched his head. "It's nothing much, Emilia-tan. Would you like to see what Tokyo looks like, my home country's capital?" Ram agreed. "Barusu, I would like to see this 'Tokyo' place of yours." Subaru went back to his One Plus 6T, searched up Tokyo on Google Images, and found a good picture. He then showed it to Emilia." What Emilia saw was a city of sorts that had so many buildings, that she lost count. She also noticed that they were densely packed as well. "That's Tokyo?! Look at the amount of buildings there, it's huge! It looks like so many people live in this 'Tokyo' place." Subaru formed a smile on his face. "That's Tokyo for you, Emilia-tan. It is the capital of Japan, home to 13 million people, and is the center of my home country. As you can see, we were able to develop into a well-established nation without any form of magic whatsoever, and use solely human knowledge to make my place what it is today." Luctiana joined in the conversation as well. "Emilia-sama, when you are free with your political activities, Subaru would like to introduce you to his metias from Japan. He thinks that those will make your life easier. And also, maybe having those 'games', 'manga', and 'anime' will make your life easier." Emilia nodded. "Subaru, what is this 'anime' and 'manga' thing you are talking about?"

Subaru stretched his legs for a moment. His neon blue shoes was glowing. "Emilia-tan, you know about how Lugnica has stories in those books, right? Anime is stories like that, but visualized. You can actually see the characters with your own eyes. Like stories, any anime can be different. They can have their own characters, their own setting, their own personalities, stuff like that. You can hear them talk and interact with others. It is due to the authors/directors of that medium that they made a story from a book come to life. Manga on the other hand, uses paintings, along with text in the book, to tell the story. I know this because I was an avid manga/anime fan back in Japan, and people around my age are usually into these kind of things. There is also what are known as 'Light Novels', Emilia-tan, which are the more traditional books like you see in Lugnica. Of course, we speak the same language, but the writing is different, so I'll have to translate the Japanese letter for you. On the other hand, Emilia-tan, watching anime won't be a problem for you. They speak in the same language as you, so you will have no problem understanding."

Emilia looked at Subaru. "So people around your age are into those things. I see. What about 'games'? What are they about?" Subaru stayed silent for a couple of moments. That is when Ram pushed Subaru. "Barusu, Emilia-sama wants to know about this 'game' of sorts." Subaru closed his eyes, once again. He then open them. With his blue eyes, he looked at Emilia. "A 'game' or more specifically, a 'video game', is a type of medium where you are in control of a character. That's right. The one controlling a character in the story is you. A medium that involves interaction with a user interface that you can see to generate visual feedback. You control the picture by pressing buttons. You have the freedom to do what you want. In some games, you even have the freedom to explore and create anything you want. In my world, kids around my age didn't have such a hard life in Lugnica. We can be able to afford to live this kind of life in Japan, because we had enough money to do so. Even on this metia, there are games that are there, mainly for some fun when I don't have anything else to do at the moment. Well, I guess that can wrap up this dinner section for now. Emilia, aren't you going to do your nightly talking with the lesser spirits?" Emilia slowly got up and walked to the door. By this time now, it was about 8:00 PM in the night. "I'll have to do my usual routine now, Subaru, so see you in a bit. As usual, I'll be outside." With that, Emilia opened the door and made her way outside the mansion to make contact with the lesser spirits. Rem and Ram began to clean up the dining table. "Barusu, Rem and I are going to start cleaning now." Subaru simply nodded. Tiffania gave out a warm smile as she finished the last game of Fortnite with Luctiana. Both of them tried to mask their frustration when playing. Surprisingly, both of them did a good job of covering up their anger from getting blasted by shotguns and explosives. Bidashal cleared his throat. "Are you guys done playing Fortnite now? That is rather inconsiderate of the both of you to start playing while Subaru was explaining his past in Japan." Tiffania shrieked. "Come on! Bidashal, what's wrong with that? The World Wide Web has already given us enough information regarding with Subaru's past. I'm just playing Fortnite because it's fun and it's a challenge to compete with other players." Luctiana agreed. "Yeah, come on! What else do we have to do here? The technology here is medieval at best. This is our only way to use our time when we don't have anything to do! Why can't we just use the materializer as we wish?" Subaru looked at Luctiana. He scolded her. "Luctiana! If we do that, we are simply going to draw unwanted attention into the domain."

 _ **The Plan**_

Subaru crossed his arms and pushed his pseudo glasses up. "This first week will be about introducing Emilia-tan, Rem, and Ram to manga, anime, and video gaming. By the end of this week, I want Ram and Emilia-tan to have the One Plus 6T as their main device. We are also going to have a session where all of us watch anime, when Emilia is done with her political studies for the day. This week is also going to be the week where we start integrating modern essentials from Earth. Tomorrow, we will be busy installing LED clocks over the mansion. They will be a lot more accurate than the lamps they use right now to measure time. Also, each bed room that is occupied will have its own alarm clock, as well as an LED clock that tells the time of the day." Tiffania raised her hand. "Subaru-san! What about Roswaal's room? Since that is no longer occupied, what are we going to do with that?" Subaru closed his eyes, as he was trying to come up with an idea for what to do. Eventually he came up with an idea. "Guys, I have a plan. We should turn that place into a room where we will watch anime, and show Emilia-tan and the other more about Japan? Sounds good?" At this time, Rem and Ram were in the kitchen, cleaning all of the dishes using the new technology that Theo materialized. Their work was cut down by quite a lot. All of the elves at the table nodded. They pulled out the Materializer and Elven storage. Bidashal was the first to talk about. "Well, Subaru, with the current stuff we have, converting that room should be quite easy. I say we do it. Luctiana, how to you feel about having an entertainment room?" Luctiana let out a big smirk. "What do ya think? Of course I would like to have one in this place! Give Emilia-sama something to do for crying out loud. Do you want to know what Emilia did before we got here? She only had her studies, talking with the spirits, and well, that's about it. By integrating Subaru's technology here, perhaps Emilia-sama will have a better time. Can you imagine, Emilia's One Plus 6T, or that Dell G7 she uses? The possibilities are endless. You can type much, much faster than writing stuff out, yeah? We can speed up her studying by allowing her to learn to use the new stuff."

Subaru looked at Luctiana. "You're are a quite the enthusiastic one there Luctiana. We should take our time with getting Emilia-tan and the other comfortable." Luctiana nodded, only for her to counter. "Says the former human who said: 'I guess you were the wonder drug that my heart needed.' And 'Honestly, Emilia-tan! Every time we meet, your stir my heart!'" That statement by Luctiana caused Subaru to turn tomato red. "Wha..the…HUH?! You! You shut up!" Luctiana was giggling so hard. "Honestly, Subaru, it's so easy to make you flustered. All I have to be talking about is you and Emilia are a couple, and you go completely blank! You see there, you know you want her to be your wife. I know you want that to happen. Tehehehe…." Subaru looked down at the table in embarrassment. No matter how hard he tried to cover up his feelings for Emilia, it seems that Luctiana was able to see right through that facade.

"Ah…this…here…damn it, it's rather embarrassing." Luctiana patted Subaru on the back. "Come on Subaru! Go out there and see her!" Subaru rolled his eyes while he looked at Luctiana. _"Now that I think of it, she is kind of acting lot like my father right now. It does not help that both Luctiana and Edan love to poke fun of me."_ Bidashal also had his thoughts in mind. When he was in the other world in the past two years or so, he was constantly active within the elven community, trying to improve technologies within the two nations. In those very two years, both the human nation and the elven nation united with Saito's nation. Bidashal stood up and began to walk back towards his room. "I'll be heading back to my room now. If you guys need anything, hit me up on Discord!" In a few seconds, Bidashal was out of the dining room. Everything was cleaned up. Subaru sighed to himself. "When should we inform the villagers of the transfer of this domain to mine?" Theo closed his eyes to figure out what would be the best plan for Subaru. "Subaru-san, I would say we should inform the villagers about the ownership within the next week or two. If we don't say anything by then, suspicious assumptions are going to most likely arrive in the upcoming days. You should say something by then, I guess." Subaru cleared his throat. "How in the hell are we going to get Emilia-tan to use the One Plus 6T? She hasn't even used a smartphone before, let alone seen one in Lugnica. She only got exposed to it briefly." Luctiana facepalmed at Subaru's question. "Uh…..Subaru, if an old ass person can use a smartphone, I bet Emilia-sama would be able to get used to it in no time. You see Rem? She got used to it pretty quickly. Smartphones are designed in such a way that it allows for first-time users to have easy access to it." Subaru nodded at Luctiana's statement. "I guess…..maybe I should go check on Emilia-tan. You know, the way that Lugnica keeps time is confusing as hell." Tiffania looked at Subaru. "Confusing, Subaru-san?" Subaru nodded as he got up. "Yeah, it's confusing. They divide it into 12 bright hours, and 12 dark hours, which is utterly confusing. They have these sighted glass things which change color, depending on the time of the day. From noon to 6, it is bright green. From that point on, it is turns to red until midnight, changing to blue from midnight to six in the morning. Finally, it changes to yellow from six to noon, and repeats. The first thing that we are going to do as a team is to get rid of that dumb time keeping system. LED clocks are much more accurate than using that retarded lamp device. You all know what to do, right? We'll have to roll out new technology to the place at a snail's pace, so that they can keep up. Though by judging how fast Rem and Ram adjusted to the new kitchen, I don't think that is going to be much of an issue." All of the remaining elves (including the half-elf Tiffania), nodded.

Subaru and all of the remaining elves walked out of the dining room. Subaru closed the door behind him, and put both of his hands behind his back as he walked in the mansion with the elves. All of the lanterns have changed to the red color. "So inaccurate. Emilia-tan and the others will definitely appreciate this new time system that we are going to be installing tomorrow." Bidashal was walking behind Subaru. "Subaru, I have a concern regarding giving Emilia-sama a smartphone. It's the fact that she might get addicted to it, and neglect her political studies, due to it being new to her." Subaru shook his head. "You have a fair point there. But, I don't think Emilia-tan is the kind of person who would neglect her political studies. You've seen her in action, right? In that _Re:Zero_ anime that you saw? She'll never do such a thing like that. Unlike me, who neglected his studies in order to live a life that was devoid of purpose whatsoever." Tiffania was silent this time. As they walked, they reached the spot where they can all see Emilia talking with the lesser spirits. Emilia was glowing, with orbs floating all around her, indicating that she was talking with the spirits at this moment. All of them stopped to look at Emilia, including Subaru, who was flushed red at seeing her. To Subaru, Emilia is one dynamite gal. Subaru turned to look at his own crystal, which had Edan in it. _"Emilia-tan and the other will be introduced to Edan tomorrow. I wonder how Puck is going to react to him. They may get along quite well. The others and I will find out. This has shaped up to be an eventful first day, introducing Japan to Emilia-tan. Tell her about the way that I lived back then."_ Bidashal was standing right beside Tiffania, looking at Emilia talk with the lesser spirits. "Subaru, why don't you talk with the lesser spirits right now? You're a Spirit Arts user now, right?" Subaru shook his head. "It's better if I don't use it unless it's necessary. Using magic unnecessary is a foolish idea in the first place. Also, I have things such as the OnePlus 6T and the Dell G7. Theo also as the ability to materialize things such as soul killing guns. I would rather take advantage of the technology that you guys have provided to us than to use my magic." Luctiana stepped out right now. "So, Subaru, what are you going to do now?"The silver-harried half elf closed his eyes. "Well, I might read some manga. I haven't read any of them in the past two months or so, ever since I got summoned to this world. This laptop means that I can watch manga and anime without a problem." Tiffania fiddled with her fingers. "Subaru-san, what do you think we should do right now?" Subaru, as he was the type that was lazy in his real world, wanted his fellow friends to have as much free time as they want. He walked around and scratched his head for a few seconds.

"Ah, well, I would like it if you can do whatever you want. However, I don't want you guys to visit the village yet. Your elven ears might throw them off guard. Since everyone around here fears Satella, the Jealous Witch, let me handle the situation. The villagers know me for quite some time. Even if I am a half-elf by now, I'll be able to explain the circumstances behind it." He gave everyone a wink. Theo looked at Subaru. _"Man, he doesn't ever change at all."_ Subaru began walking to his room. "Now, if you can excuse me, I'll have to get back to watching some anime that has been produced in Japan. Goodbye for now!" With that, the Zero no Tsukaima elves watched Subaru enter his room, followed by the door closing. Theo looked at the door, then looked back at Bidashal. "Looks like Subaru is enjoying his technology from Japan. Looks like he missed them quite a lot, you know?" Luctiana nodded in agreement. "Of course. Subaru-sama was a shut-in back in Japan who played video games and watched manga/anime. Do you really think his hobbies will die off simply because he was transported to another world?! Give him a break. You have seen him suffer in the anime, right? He deserves to have his some of his free time to his hobbies. Don't worry about him." Theo let out a small smile, while looking outside at the moonlight. A long time ago, this was the place where Subaru laid down next to Emilia as they both watched the moon. "That's true, Luctiana-sama. He needs that. However, I fear that he may regress back to being a NEET, like he was in Japan. Remember how he said he did nothing in Japan in Re:Zero, episode 18?" Bidashal stepped forward. "Yeah, while that might be case, I doubt that Subaru would want to go back to the NEET life. Didn't you see how much he hated himself for living such a worthless life like that? Do you really think he wants to go back to being that?! No, Subaru is not going to do that. I know he will not go back to being a recluse NEET. What I think that Subaru is going to do is retain his hobbies, while keeping busy as the lord of the domain. Plus, also with dealing with the possible discrimination that may occur." Meanwhile, Rem and Ram were cleaning up the kitchen. It was almost 9 now, and Emilia had just completed talking with the lesser spirits.

Winding down for the day

She made her way back to the mansion, and entered the lobby. She made her way up to the second floor, where she saw the elves from the Zero no Tsukaima universe, and her father Theo. She came towards them. Tiffania saw her. "Emilia-san! You're done with your thing? I can tell that you want to go see Subaru. He is in his room right now, busy with his hobbies. If you want to know where his room is now, it is right next to yours." Emilia nodded. "Thanks, I'll go see and check on what Subaru is doing at the moment." In Subaru's room, he began reading a new manga series, Nisekoi. Subaru was already hooked into it from the moment he read the synopsis. The concept of a false relationship so that a war doesn't break out between the two clans was interesting to him. _"I haven't touched a manga book since my boring days back in Japan. The last one I read was Absolute Duo, but that one I haven't had the opportunity to watch the anime."_ Much like at the convenience store, Subaru was always interested in a romance typed manga series. Just as Subaru was reading the beginning of the series, he was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"Come in." Subaru said. With that, Emilia entered the room. This room was exactly like hers a mirror image. There, she saw Subaru looking at an odd device with a 'Dell' logo on it, at his desk. It was a black device, with a blue imprint on it. Emilia opened and closed her eyes. This was another thing that Subaru was using that she had no idea what it was. Subaru looked up. "Emilia-tan! How has it been! This here is also from my place." Emilia looked at it, then looked back at Subaru. "Subaru? What in the world is that thing?" A smirk formed on Subaru's face. He then pointed his finger at his laptop. "That is what we call, a 'computer', Emilia-tan. More specifically, it's a type called a laptop. It can carry out anything you want by your inputs. It has gotten to the point where my place has it everywhere. I'll teach you the rope behind this, but for now, we'll take it nice and slow. I'm busy reading right now. I guess you have some things that you still need to do?" Emilia nodded. "That's right, Subaru. I should take my shower and change into my nighttime clothes." With that, Emilia went back to her room and Subaru was once again alone in his room. The Zero no Tsukaima elves also did the same thing, taking shower and getting into their sleep attire. Subaru also decided to get into his shower and get into his sleeping clothes around 30 minutes later. It was now about 9:30 PM. For the next half an hour, Subaru was reading Nisekoi. At 10:00 PM in the evening, Emilia came into Subaru's room to say good night. Subaru said good night to Emilia-tan as well.

By 11:00 PM, the only one that was awake now was Subaru. Everyone else in the mansion has turned themselves in for the night. Subaru was now surfing the web for the newest video games to spurge on. _"Ah yes, I was a night owl back then in Japan. Looks like I am going to back to being one now. Time to download some games."_ With that, Subaru began to download a vast variety of games. They ranged from Terraria, to Overwatch, to Minecraft, to Fortnite, and even League of Legends. Subaru smirked as his Dell G7 downloaded them all in lightning speed. _"This is much, much faster than my computer back in Japan. Technology is really a beautiful thing. Also a GeForce 1060_ _Max-Q, this here for sure means I'll play at the highest settings possible."_ Subaru decided that is first game that he was going to play is Overwatch. So Subaru began to play this game, knowing that he was good in single player games. _"Knowing me, I know how much ass I suck at multiplayer games. I'll push myself to get better at it."_ As expected, Subaru had a difficult time playing Overwatch. His team was constantly getting punished, and it was extremely tight. Subaru won and lost some here and there. Numerous times, the Overtime kicked into effect, driving Subaru into being more aggressive and push the payload. He decided to go with Genji and Hanzo, since they were both from Japan. He kept playing until 3 AM, where he made it to level 15. _"That's enough for today."_ Subaru turned off his Dell G7 and went to bed. He got a last look at his One Plus 6t before looking at the lantern, which was blue in color now. This wraps the first day of Subaru's new reign of the domain, and the emergence of modern technology. Tomorrow will begin the integration of Earth's tech.


	11. The First Stage of Modernizing: TV&Clock

_**In Subaru's Dream, night one of the new members of Emilia's camp from Zero No Tsukaima.**_

As Subaru was sleeping, a vision began to pop up in one of his dreams. This was the dream realm. In this, what Subaru saw was a fragment from Subaru's past. _"What…what is this? It's about me, looks like. But, where is this." His vision became clearer, until he recognized the field that he was racing with the other children. "There is no doubt, this is when I was in grade school. When I was the best at everything."_ A sad smile came from Subaru's face as he watched his younger self running. The scene then faded to white again, and popped out another scene. This time, it was the younger Subaru trying to be more ambitious than before, due to the pressure of living up to his father. _"That's right. I was trying to be like my dad, because that is what I believed made him well liked around town."_ In Subaru dreams, he watched as his antics made his friends left him. Eventually he had no friends at all. The scene that Subaru saw in front of him next was him playing video games, reading manga, and surfing the web. Subaru also noticed the poster on the walls. _"My room. I haven't seen this in quite some time. Absolute Duo and Asterisk War. I was a fan of both of them."_ The half-elf looked around to see what his room was like. As expected, it hasn't changed at all. There was still his desk, which was collecting dust for a long time. He also saw the video game consoles that was on top of one of the nightstands in his room. _"Heh, a Nintendo Famicom and a Sega Genesis with a 32X and the CD. I was good at single player games. I didn't even invest the time into multiplayer games. Why did I even live a life like this?! No, I can't simply go back to this at all. This is not a life that I want to live. Doing nothing but wasting my time, trying to get my parents to hate me. I hated myself for being like this, and still hate myself for being a worthless pile of crap NEET."_ Just then, the scene faded into the same room, but it was at night. Subaru was playing games all day, from the morning, all the way into the evening. _"Most likely, this is the last day that I spend on Earth. In Japan, going through the same mundane routine over and over again. I can't remember what the last game that I played in that room. However, there was a convenience store nearby that would allow for me to get some food there."_ Subaru watched as the last scene came into view. This scene was when Subaru was at that store, getting food for dinner so that he may resume his hobbies. Subaru closed his eyes. _"Those moments were the very last moments in Japan. My life in Lugnica began from that point."_ With that, Subaru saw as the dream realm was closing around him. He was about to wake up.

 _ **Subaru's Room, around 11:00 AM in the morning.**_

Subaru slowly opened his eyes. He looked around his room, along with looking at the lantern. It was a yellow color, indicating it was in the morning. Sunlight pierced through the three windows in his room. Subaru slowly got up and stretched his arms. He gave out a yawn. Edan, is now fully charged, popped out of Subaru's hair. The fox gave Subaru a little wave. "Good morning Suba. Looks like you slept in for quite a while. Are you usually like this?" Subaru was half-asleep when he replied. "Ugu….ugh…yeah. I'm the kind of person who likes to sleep in all the time, especially when I was living as a NEET." Edan nodded his head in agreement. "Well, you said you were going to implement your stuff from your place today, starting with the time. Make Emilia amazed. I know she'll fall for you eventually." Subaru gave a small smile, followed by him walking to the bathroom. Subaru looked at himself, only to realize that he wasen't thrilled with his appearance. "Edan, I have another request that I want you to complete." Edan looked at his partner. Subaru closed his eyes. "I'm going to show you the hairstyle that I want you to for me." With that, Subaru walked back to his bed to grab his OnePlus 6T on the nightstand and went to ' _In Another World With My Smartphone'_. He looked up Touya Mochizuki's page. Edan looked at the hairstyle that Touya had. "Suba, you want me to change your hairstyle to that?" Subaru nodded. Edan began the preparations to do his magic. "Okay then! Here goes nothing!" With that in mind, Subaru was enclosed in dark smoke, which lasted for a few seconds. Finally, the smoke cleared, with Subaru now with Touya's hairstyle. "All done Suba! Looks great on you!" Subaru smiled at his fox familiar. "Thanks Edan. Now, shall we go out of the room?" With that, Subaru changed back to his normal clothes, along with Edan going back into his hair. He opened the door and looked left or right. There was no one around right now. Just then, Subaru spotted Luctiana, who came up the stairs to tour the place. She gave Subaru a scowl. "Subaru-san! What the hell were you doing?! Emilia-sama was worried about you. Don't tell me that you spend all night playing with that Dell G7 and messing up your sleep clock." Subaru was a little nervous. He had just been caught red-handed by Luctiana. "Well-um…..Luctiana….you see. I didn't do th-. " Luctiana cuts off Subaru's talk. "So you were staying up late into the night to play video games. Didn't you say that you wanted to avoid the NEET life!?" That caused Subaru to roll his eyes in annoyance. "Give me a break! After suffering through multiple timelines, getting slashed to death, getting frozen to death, killing myself, don't you think I deserve a little free time?! It's just a hobby after all. What's wrong with that?! Plenty of people my age play video games, so why should I stop? I won't."

Luctiana gave Subaru a long sigh. "Whatever. Bidashal already told Emilia-sama that you were going to sleep in a little longer than usual. She said that it is fine by her. Just don't get yourself hooked too much into video gaming, especially here in Lugnica." Luctiana walked back down the main floor with the others. Subaru realized that he forgot to brush his teeth, so he went to do that. In addition, Subaru decided to materialize both Listerine and ACT mouthwash. Edan was curious on what that thing is. "Suba, what is in that bottle of sorts?" Subaru took the cap out of the Listerine and began rising for around 30 seconds. He spit out the entire thing after that. Edan was able to figure out what that all means. "Suba, that right there is a cleanser of some sort. Looks like it cleans your mouth, from what I can tell." Subaru nodded as he looked at the bottle with the mouth-cleaning liquid. "That's right. This is common place in Japan. People there have really good hygiene. Now, if you can excuse me right now, I have to check on the others." With that in mind, Subaru walked out of his room and made his way down to the lobby. As he made his way down the floor, he encountered both Ram and Rem. "It's Barusu, the sleepyhead who didn't even bother to wake up at his normal time." Rem waved her hand. "Good morning, Subaru-kun. Looks like it's about an hour away from lunch now." Subaru waved his hand at Rem. He made his way down to the lobby of the mansion, where Emilia was standing. Her face was pouting at something. Subaru could tell that she was unhappy about something. That was when he realized that pouting was directed at him. "E…Emilia-tan?! What's wrong?" She came up to Subaru and lightly pinched his side. "Subaru, you dunderhead! Luctiana-san told me you stayed up way into the night. I was worried about you, as we called you to wake up, but you didn't answer." A luminescent blush formed across Subaru's face. "Well….Emilia-tan. I guess I am quite a heavy sleeper, you know. I spend that time late into the night, to do….some things on my Metias." Emilia was confused at first, but then realized what Subaru was talking about. "Subaru, you mean that metia that you were on when you were in the room, that black thing there. Wait…what in the world was that thing you were using in your room?" Subaru chuckled. "Uh…Emilia-tan, that right there is what I call in Japan a 'gaming laptop'. To put into simpler words, it's an extremely powerful metia than allows me to do anything to my hearts content. I was doing….some productive things on that metia, so….don't worry about that Emilia-tan." Emilia put a little smile on her face. "Whatever you say, Subaru." Just then, Puck popped out of Emilia's sliver hair. Subaru saw the cat familiar in his cute form. "Hi there, Subaru. You have reunited with Lia, after that fight you had. And wait, you look different, much different in fact. Don't tell me, you are a Spirit Arts user as well?! That crystal you have on you, Subaru. I have no doubt it is the same as Lia's." Emilia turned to Subaru. "Subaru, didn't you say that you had someone with you?"

Subaru began to talk to Edan in his mind. _"Edan, it's time for you to show yourself to Emilia-tan and Puck. You're ready for this?"_ Edan talked back to Subaru. _"Suba, I'm always by your side, and I will always be your ally. So count on me!"_ Subaru cleared his throat. "He's coming in just a few seconds." Then, the white spirit male fox made his first appearance to both Emilia and Puck for the first time. The white fox began to spin around in circles. "I am an artificial spirit that is contracted to Suba. I am the one, the only…ahem…..EDAN!" He stopped his spin and pointed to the air. Both Emilia and Puck looked at each other. Puck looked at this fox spirit. "Lia, what did you think? I think he's just as lively and energetic as Subaru." Emilia looked at Edan as well. She gave a small sigh. "I really don't know about Edan. He seems to be the energetic type like Subaru. At the same time, he seems to be the type to be quite mischievous." Subaru chuckled. "This is Edan. He's kind of like me with his personality, yet will offer up good advice. Most of the time though, it's him teasing about…..um….me and you, Emilia-tan." This caused Emilia to turn red in embarrassment. "Wha-…..no…..it's…um…." Emilia turned her head to the right and shook her head. She put her hand out. "Don't look over here, it's embarrassing!" Subaru didn't say anything to her, but his cheeks was flushed. Edan looked over at how Subaru was acting. Despite being his master, Edan couldn't help but be amused at this. After all, it is what Edan does best, teasing people like no tomorrow. _"Subaru with that flushed face huh? Emilia and Subaru. Mhmmmm. That's is one spicy combination all right."_ Subaru scratched his face for a moment. He didn't know what he wanted to say to her. Puck at this time went hiding back, as well as Edan too. "Um…Emilia-tan….would you mind..um…w..wa…walking with me." Emilia was unsure at first. "O…Ok….Subaru. It's not that I don't want to go with you, but…" Subaru tried to figure out what Emilia was trying to say. "You mean that the villagers will despise us when they look at us? No, we are not going there. We are simply going to walk at the back of the mansion. Please be at ease, Emilia-tan." Subaru began walking around the mansion to greet his friends. Eventually, he saw Theo, Emilia's father. The silver haired, purple eyed elf grated Subaru. "Hello, Subaru-san. Looks like you had a good night's sleep. I can tell that you are talking care of Emilia well. You're talking her for a walk around the mansion, most likely for a little talk?" Subaru nodded his head. "Yeah, I am. I'm going to talk about integrating new metias from my place to the mansion." Theo gave a smile to her daughter, and to Subaru as well. "Have fun, you two. Now, get out there and enjoy yourselves!" Theo said as he exited the presence of both Subaru and Emilia.

 _ **At the one of the hallways of Subaru's Mansion.**_

Both of the half-elves looked at each other before they started to make their way out of the mansion's front entrance. Tiffania was walking by when she saw Subaru and Emilia walking towards the entrance. "Subaru-san! Emilia-san! Where you and Emilia-sama going right now?" Subaru turned to the source of the voice. It was a soft voice that had no malice, only innocence. "Tiffania-san, we are just going on a small walk around the mansion. Don't worry. I'll be back a few moments." Tiffania waved her hand as they both made their way out. Once they reached the outside of the mansion, Emilia tilted her head. "Subaru? What did you want to talk to me about?" Subaru looked at the beautiful clear blue sky that was looming over the both of them at first. He then turned back to the silver hared half-elf. "Well, Emilia-tan, we are going to start the process of bring new stuff from my place to this place." Emilia was even more confused. "Hmmm…..but what exactly are you talking about?" Subaru spirit Edan popped out of his hair. "Emilia. What Suba is trying to say he is that he is going to bring the metia's that he used from his place to yours. You have seen what that 'smartphone' can do. All of the things that Suba used is extremely advanced in design, and can do things that you can't even fathom." Emilia said nothing. Subaru wanted to introduce a better way to keep time in the mansion. "What I was thinking about doing on the second day without Roswaal is to introduce a more precise time keeping system. You know what hours are….right Emilia-tan?" She nodded. Of course she knew what an hour is. Subaru continued. "Well, from where I am, we divide the day into 24 hour segments. This is then further divided into two 12 hour segments, known as AM and PM. It goes back and forth between them, for every single day. Sounds simple enough?" Emilia was walking besides Subaru, as it was approaching noon. The sun was almost at its peek. "Subaru, what you are mentioning sounds simple enough. But, it seems too simple though." Subaru waited for Emilia to finish before he explained minutes and seconds. "In Japan, 1 hour is divided into 60 minutes. From there, 1 minute is equal to sixty seconds." Emilia could understand easily, but she still had a question in mind. "Subaru, from that place called Japan, was it always like this where metias are super advanced?" Subaru chuckled in response to Emilia's question. "Of course not, Emilia-tan! Smartphones like these only started emerging around 10 years ago. The thing that we called the 'internet' only came about around twenty years ago. Soooo…yeah, Emilia-tan. We used to look like Lugnica, well at least when it comes to the way that people lived. That was over 1000 years ago now." Emilia looked at Subaru in bewilderment. She couldn't believe that such a thing like that was possible. "One thousand years?" Subaru nodded as he walked in the garden. "Yeah, one thousand years. One thousand years of human developments, inventors, and breakthroughs in human knowledge got Japan to where it is today. As we speak, the people from where I am from are still developing these advanced metias. They will only get better and better as time comes. Like my 'smartphone', which is blitzing fast. Do you want to know what phones were like back then, back when I was born, Emilia-tan? They were clunky, heavy, and could only do one thing, call to other people. Unlike today, where I can do anything."

Subaru pulled out his One Plus 6T. Puck, who was hiding in the crystal, noticed that Subaru was holding something. He hasn't seen anything like that in Lugnica, not even in his lifespan. "Subaru, what in the world is that thing that you are holding in your hand? Is this the thing that Lia told me about?" Subaru looked back at his phone. "Yes, it is the device that I introduced to Emilia-tan. It's basically an all in one device. I have the entire library within my disposal, at my fingertips. With that, I will be able to do such things such as look up information that I don't know, socialize with people from far distances, or kill some of the time that I have with what this thing can offer." Puck was confused. "Kill time? You mean do something while you are bored?" Subaru nodded his head. "That's right. From where I came from, Japan, we have numerous ways to kill time. Of course, you have your usual stuff such as stories and things like that. However, over there, we as the human race have developed other ways to have fun. From my area, things such as anime, light novels, manga, and video games have shaped the way that kids my age play out their free time. Think of it as a story, with the first three being examples of stories you read and watch. The last example, the 'video games' are stories that you can control. It's quite fun, so to say, depending on your taste." Emilia cleared her throat. "Subaru, why are you going so far for me? All of this new stuff, it's all of a sudden." Subaru looked at her. "Emilia-tan, life can be a little boring at times, I mean, there isn't much you can do once you have done your tasks for the day. These things from Japan can help speed up your studying habits immensely, as well has having something to enjoy in your downtime. Besides, I bet that you missed me while I was at the capital getting treated by Ferris, weren't you?!" That remark from Subaru turned Emilia's face red everywhere. "Wha- Wha-, no, it's not like that! Uh…um…how can you say that Subaru?! You dunderhead. I was busy studying and trying to convince the villagers that it is not safe out there." With that, Emilia retaliated in a cute way by grabbing Subaru's and lightly pinching it. To add to the flirting, Subaru winked at Emilia, which caused her whole face to go red. Edan looked at Subaru from the inside of this crystal and watched his master flirt without shame. He was amused by this. Edan, a fox spirit, was always on Subaru's side ever since he became a half-elf. It is natural that Edan is also a support of Subaru and Emilia eventually in a relationship, with marriage later on. _"That's my boy Suba! I know that you can do it! You two make a cute couple, I must say. Amazing."_

 _ **Behind the mansion, at the garden, where the tennis courts are located.**_

Subaru looked at the sky. "What a beautiful day here, Emilia-tan. Oh, I also wanted to show you something right now. It has something to do with the stuff that I mentioned that came from my place. It's that 'car' transport that I was talking about yesterday. Let me get that up in a matter of seconds." With his enhanced reflexes, Subaru went to Google on his One Plus 6T and looked up a red Corvette that was in Tokyo. Using that image he found, he showed it to Emilia. "There, Emilia-tan. This is what we called in Japan a 'car'." Emilia took a good look at the image that Subaru showed her. It was unlike anything that she had seen before. For starters, this doesn't seem to be a creature pulling the thing. It also had materials that she had never seen before, and the color of it was what caught her attention. Emilia has risen in carriages before, but this to her, looks very complex. She sees two spots in the car, in which Emilia assumes that is where people sit in this transport. One side has a wheel. _"A wheel? What is that doing here, in this thing? Perhaps I should ask Subaru."_ Emilia also talked to Puck, who was in this crystal at the time. _"Lia, that thing is highly unusual. It's unlike any transportation that I have seen before. Although, it came from Subaru's place, so it not a surprise to me."_ Emilia turned to Subaru. "That thing I see, in that um…what was it, 'smartphone'? That thing is what you call a 'car'?" As usual, Subaru was excited to tell Emilia about the things from his world. It was his dream to bring stuff from Japan to here, ever since he first came here. Since the Zero no Tsukaima elves arrived here, they made it possible. Subaru replied as he looked at Emilia. "Yeah. That right there is a car. A transportation vehicle that we use, much like carriages. Emilia looked at the vehicle. Something was off. "Subaru…that 'car' thing has no dragon/animal pulling that. How does it even operate in the first place?" This was right up Subaru's alley. At this age, he normally used a bike to get to school from his house, before he became a NEET. However, Subaru also had a driver's license in training. In a sense, Subaru knows how to drive a car, but doesn't really have much experience. He also fears that he has gotten rusty at his skills. Subaru cleared his throat to start explaining to his beloved Emilia. "A 'car', does not need an animal to drive it. Do you see those two seats, Emilia-tan?" Subaru points to the two seats in the car, while Emilia looks at the image. She nods. "All right. One of them is the passenger seat, and the other one with the circular thing is the driver's seat. That wheel you see controls the movement of the car. The drive can also accelerate, deaccelerate, and change the settings to accommodate for any situation. The 'car' operates on what is called an 'engine'." Emilia puts her right finger through her hair and twirls it. She was confused at these new terms that Subaru spoke of. "'Engine'?" Subaru clarified. "Yes, engines. They are replacements for animal/dragons when it comes to powering the transport vehicles. Long ago, Japan used to have carriages like here. With the invention of the engine in my place, the carriages died out pretty fast. If you went to Tokyo, Emilia-tan, you would see miles, and miles of 'cars', especially on a busy day. Almost everyone had cars. They also have cool gadgets included, which will help you be entertained. "

Emilia looked at this thing. "This, 'car' thing would be nice to ride in someday. Subaru…do you know how to operate this 'car'?" Subaru started to fidget with his fingers. He was good at it, but he hasn't been homing his skills for a long time, not ever since he became a NEET in Japan. "Um…yes….sort of, Emilia-tan. My skills might be rusty, but I think I can get back up to speed if I rode in that thing again. You know, with that thing, we can get to the capital extremely fast. Much faster, than any carriage in Lugnica." Emilia had a faint smile on her face. _"It isn't hard to see why Subaru was so well-built. If his place had 'smartphones' and this thing called a 'car', then I can't wait to see what more does Subaru's place have to offer. Puck, what do you think?"_ At this moment, Puck chimed in as well. _"Lia, you are right. Remember when we first met Subaru at the loot house? The way he acted against that that bowel woman, means to me that he most likely lived a care free life before he met you, Lia. I mean, look at Subaru's 'smartphone' and that 'car'. Both of those things are highly advanced contraptions that no one in Lugnica would have an idea on how that works in the first place. Not even I can understand how that works. Lia, I think this is only the beginning. He said something about 'entertainment'. I wonder what that means in the first place. Then again, it may be a thing that Subaru likes to do."_ Emilia kept talking in her mind. _"Yeah, I know. Even now, even when he is a half-elf, a spirit arts user, he doesn't seem to take to offence that he is a half-elf."_ At this point, they were halfway around the garden. There, Emilia spots in the distance the tennis court that Subaru and his Zero no Tsukaima friends played on yesterday in the early morning. "Subaru, what is that fence thing in the background? It has a bunch of stuff located over there, such as seats, and several objects." Emilia pointed to where the tennis court is. It was enclosed by four light poles. Subaru looked at where Emilia was pointed. Subaru looked down at his blue crystal, and looked towards the tennis court. He also scratched his silver hair with his left hand. "That Emilia-tan, is where I play a sport from my world." Emilia tilted her head. "A sport? As in playing in a competitive game?" Subaru nodded. "That right there is called a tennis court, a place where you play 'tennis', a sport from where I came from. Anyone can play the sport, either on a recreational level, or on the professional level. The best of the best players every year go toe to toe in tournaments, with the games becoming extremely intense on multiple occasions." This struck Emilia's curiosity. "Tournament? Do they have…'prizes' to go to the winners?" Subaru nodded. Emilia was correct in her assumptions. "Emilia-tan! EMT! That's right. Professional players in 'tennis' play at tournaments to earn money. The further you get in, the more money you get. That means even the losers get some money. So it's a win-win for all parties involved."

Emilia looked down at the ground. _"So Subaru's place has these sports. I need to ask him something regarding this."_ She looked at Subaru, who was walking without a care in the world right now. "Subaru, do you play this 'tennis' sport?" That triggered Subaru's memory. Before he became a NEET, he liked to play tennis with his father. Although he wasn't good at it, Subaru preferred to attack head on by serve and volley. In Subaru's youth, he used to watch quite a bit of tennis with his mother and father. He had always preferred the tennis players who went on the attack, because there was a lot more risk and reward involved. A smile formed across Subaru's face. "I used to play tennis, when I wasn't indulging in doing nothing at home. Those were the good old days, Emilia-tan, when I played with my father at the courts. With your father's idea, I was able to pick up on the sport that I used to play back at home." Emilia kept walking with Subaru. "Subaru, you said that you were going to introduce this thing that you call 'anime'. I….will do that….with you when I'm done with my studies for the Royal Election." Subaru nodded. "Yeah. Let's do that together. I am going to guess that it's going to be something that you would enjoy with the others. Especially people like Tiffania-san or Theo, your father. They seem to be pretty well acquainted with the same stuff that I was used to watching when I was back in Japan." Emilia looked at Subaru. Her first thoughts was that Edan, Subaru's spirit companion, was just as hyper as Subaru. "Subaru, about Edan, that white fox." Subaru's ears shot up. "Oh, Emilia-tan. You want to know something about Edan? Looks like you are lost about something." Emilia nodded. "Do you have the exact same contract with Edan as I do with Puck?" Subaru shook his head. "I'm not really sure on that, Emilia-tan. Edan told me that his hours was from 9 AM to 5 PM, but I'm not sure if he can stay up longer than that. Like Puck, Edan often spend his time in my blue crystal that I have. Edan staying in his form as a fox when it unnecessary drains his mana. He wants to conserve it as much as he can. Don't worry about him, he's pretty nice to everyone from what I have seen so far. He's that type which has a free spirit." Emilia looked at the blue skies above her. "So Subaru, are you going to resume your radio calisthenics thing at the village?" Subaru remembered going to the village every single day, teaching the people of that village his exercises in Japan. That was until he was summoned to the capital, where he made a fool of himself in the Royal Castle. Ever since, Subaru wonder how they were going to see him. "Emilia-tan, I would want to return to do that once again. I also want them to be introduced to stuff from my place…but I think that would be too sudden for them. They would be quickly overwhelmed by this new stuff. Judging by the way you reacted, I think it's best that we keep the stuff in the mansion for now. You and I can decide later on when we roll it out to the villagers. As for now, we are going to concentrate on getting you down with the basics of what we call 'technology'. From now, these things aren't 'metias'. They are not made from magic of any kind. It's possible to make things without magic."

 _ **Back in Subaru's (formerly Roswaal's) Mansion. Guest Room.**_

All of the Zero no Tsukaima elves were sitting in the guest room, while Rem and Ram began to prepare for lunch. It was well past noon, around 12:30 PM now. In the guest room of the mansion, Bidashal was discussing on how to implement the new clock system around the mansion. "Subaru said to us that he was going to put in the same clock system that he used in Japan. Luctiana, what do you think that Subaru wants us to do right now? We are nothing but deadweight at this moment." Luctiana scratched her head. "Well, the first thing we should is put a digital alarm clock in every single bed room. I mean, the type that displays the time of course. The one that can be placed on a night stand." Theo scratched his head. "Shouldn't be that big of a problem. There is about 8 people living in the mansion at the moment, not counting Beatrice. Materializing one right now shouldn't be that big of an issue, if you ask me." Tiffania looked outside, at the empty front. It seems to bare and boring, even though there was a tennis court in the back of the mansion. She shook her head to get her mind off that thought. "Uh…yes. Subaru-san would want us to put in an alarm clock system. So let's get a LED alarm clock that is purple in color, right?" Luctiana looked at the half-elf. "Purple? Why would we want that color for an alarm clock?" Tiffania put her finger on her chin. "Well, I had a thought about Emilia-san's clothes, and they were white and purple?" Luctiana sighed. "Really Tiffania-san? I think a better color would be white in my opinion. It is a more neutral color to go with, and I also think that Subaru would like it better that way as well." Theo said nothing. Bidashal also had to discuss the problem of transportation. "We also have concerns regarding transportation as well." Luctiana pouted. "Of course we have a problem with that! I used motorcycles in Tristain! I am not going back to using that retarded carriage. We should get transportation for all of us in the mansion, including Subaru." Theo gave a sigh. "You are talking about a car, Luctiana-sama? If that's the case, which one are we going to give Subaru in the first place? Also, that brings up yet another problem. You are assuming that Subaru has a license to drive such a thing. I don't think that it is a wise choice to materialize one right now. If he hasn't drove in two months, assuming that he had a driver's license, then Subaru-sama must be rusty as heck. We can't afford to take a risk with that, not until we know for sure that Subaru approves of us giving him a new car." Luctiana sulked. "Damnit! I wanted to see Subaru drive a car. Maybe he has got the skills like that Initial D person."

Bidashal scolded Luctiana. "Don't get distracted here! We still need to integrate the new clock system here. Honestly, using those lamps as an indicator for what time of day it is means that it is highly inaccurate. I'm honestly at my wits end with looking at that lamp for a rough estimate of the time. Plus, if we really wanted to know the time, we could have just used our phones in the first place!" Theo stood up from one of the seats in the visitor's room and looked towards the outside of the mansion. A lot of things were going through his mind at the moment. This included his younger sister Fortuna. _"Fortuna, you must be resting easy right now, knowing that Emilia is safe. I knew that you didn't make it during the attack of Elior Forest. I'm sorry I couldn't be there at the moment to see Emilia, I was so busy in doing something with my wife at the time, so we asked to you take care of here while I'm gone. But that was a time when Emilia was a young child. Now, she is a full grown woman, aiming to become the 42_ _nd_ _King of Lugnica. Despite all of that, she is still my precious girl. And Subaru, which his brave heroics I have witness through anime, who was powerless, who stood up against her in the Throne Room. He had absolutely no self-worth at all. He was fighting for Emilia all along. So…I wished you got a chance to meet him, my sister. Subaru is from Japan, a 1_ _st_ _world nation on Earth with advanced technology."_ Tiffania saw that Theo was standing at the sun-lit window, with his eyes closed. Apparently, he seemed to be thinking of something. Tiffania got up and tapped Theo's shoulder. "Um….Theo-san, are you okay right now?" That tap made Theo turn to Tiffania. "Nothing, just reflected on my younger sister and Subaru. A lot of things have been happening over the past several days. Nefarious groups such as the Witch Cult stood absolutely no chance vs our weapons. I feel like the JSDF from GATE, where they completely stopped on the medieval technology. I guess that magic is indistinguishable from tech, assuming they have no understanding on how it works." Tiffania stood by the window as well. "Yeah, I know. One thing Theo, do you think there are other elves here? Elves in Lugnica? Half-elves like me?" Bidashal was the one to answer the question. "Most likely, Tiffania-san. There is a possibly that there are elves in hiding. The Witch of Envy may be gone for good, but the discrimination against half-elf's still lingers. It's natural that people will fear half-elves. After all, didn't she destroyed like half of this world? Yeah, Satella is pretty dangerous to the Re:Zero crew. Though, that does not mean anything, because she is not immune to outer universe items such as the Death Note. That thing was able to kill both Satella and Roswaal without any problems, because they had no immunity to these items from another dimension. Theo, you took care of both of them, knowing the future by the power of the internet."

Theo nodded. "That's true. The internet is definitely powerful in the right hands. With that, I was able to figure out Roswaal's true motives, which was to kill the Dragon that guards Lugnica. All for reviving his master, Echidna. So that brings up another problem. If he did that, Lugnica would have no guardian at all. Everyone would have gone to shit. Now, shall we start part one of Operation Time Upgrader?" Luctiana rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Theo? That's what you call putting in new alarm clocks in the bedrooms? I swear Theo, you say some really weird things sometimes, much like Subaru. Dare I say it, you are the quieter version of him." Theo shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really care what Luctiana thought of him in the first place. Bidashal clasped his hands together. "Okay, let's do this. Theo, I want you to put in new LED alarm clocks in Subaru's room and in Emilia's room." Theo nodded. _"So I get to upgrade my daughter's room, along with Subaru's. Nice. I got the really good ones."_ With that, Theo went out of the guest room. Bidashal turned to Luctiana. "My niece, you will be upgrading Rem and Ram's room with those alarm clocks." The elf who used to research humans got up and began walking out of the room. "Got it! It'll won't be long." With that, she left the room. The only ones that remain were Tiffania, the other half-elf living in the mansion, and Bidashal himself. "Tiffania, can you upgrade your room and Luctiana's room?" She played with her long blond hair for a moment before answering. "All right then. I'll do the upgrades, don't worry about it." Both Tiffania and Bidashal left the guest room. It took another 15 minutes for the implantation of a white LED alarm clock in all of the occupied sleeping rooms, but it was successful. Once everyone was done, they came back down to meet in the dining room. Rem and Ram told Theo that lunch was ready. As they sat down at the table, Bidashal began the debriefing. "Well done, all of you. This is the first piece of technology from Suabru's world that were able to implement with little issues." All of the people at the table nodded. Luctiana was the first one to speak up. "That's right! The materializer is really paying off. I mean, all I had to do was use that thing to make a LED alarm clock, then turn it on with a simple press of a button." Theo put his two hands on his back. "I also came across with no issues as well. Both Subaru and Emilia are going to benefit from this." Tiffania twiddled with her thumbs. She pulled out her Samsung Note 9 and looked at Japan, to see if there was any earthquakes. There was one that caught her eye. _"W….Wha…What?! That can't be. They reported that this earthquake was a magnitude 8.0 off the coast of Tokyo, about 100 miles off shore. I really hope that they are okay. This is horrible. Earthquakes aren't a joke."_ Luctiana noticed Tiffania looking at her phone. "Tiffania, what are you looking on your phone right now? It must be something important, right?" Tiffania looked at Luctiana. "Luctiana, Japan had just experienced a major, major earthquake. There is also a chance of a tsunami as well, I'm still getting the details at this moment." This caused the entire room to be concerned about Japan. After all, it's where Subaru's home is located.

"E…E..Earthquake in Japan!?" Theo said, his voice increasing with concern. He pulled out his Samsung S9, trying to go to the news section of Google's site. Sure enough, there was news that an 8.0 earthquake had just occurred off the coast of Tokyo. Theo went to his Discord and pinged Subaru immediately. _"Subaru, something has occurred in the news cast. Check Google News immediately! Reddit and the news outlets are going nuts at the moment. It has to do with Japan!"_ Meanwhile, as Subaru and Emilia were making their way back from their walk, Subaru got a notification on his One Plus 6T. It vibrated. By this time, it was about 12:45 AM in the afternoon. Emilia heard the vibrating sound. "Subaru, looks like your thing is going off." Subaru reached for his phone. The One Plus 6T gave a notification from Discord. It was from Theo. _"I wonder what Theo would ping me about in the first place?"_ Subaru looked at the Discord message. Immediately, Subaru became increasingly alarmed. _"This isn't good. From the way that Theo typed his message, it is apparent that something has happened in my home country, where my parents are. I…I don't have a good feeling about this at all."_ Subaru decided to investigate this further. He went to his news outlet, and when he saw the news of the 8.0 earthquake near Tokyo, Subaru was in complete and utter disbelief. "Wha..Wha..WHAT?!" Subaru's voice grew as his fear became stronger. Emilia noticed Subaru's sudden change in tone. "S..Subaru! What's wrong? Did something happen?" Subaru looked at Emilia, his face filled with fright. "Emilia-tan….Japan….Japan had just experienced a major earthquake. It…was 100 miles off the coast of Tokyo. It's….my home country. This…had just occurred. There is an extremely high chance of a tsunami heading straight for Japan. We haven't had anything like this happen to Tokyo in a very long time. I'm worried about them. Damnit! Another earthquake in Japan! We had one fairly recently." Emilia looked at Subaru. "Earthquake?" Subaru looked at Emilia with a serious expression. "Yes, an earthquake. Also known as when everything around you shakes violently. It can cause a lot of damage in a short amount of time. On top of that, there are other dangers as well, such as landslides, building collapses, and tsunamis." Emilia tilted her head. "Ts…'Tsunamis'." Subaru shook his head. "Tsunamis are high sea waves that impact land. They can get really tall, and are deadly, as there have been fatalities before. I think we had one around 8 years ago back from where I was, but it was another nation in my home world, Earth." They were getting close to the mansion now, back to the entrance. Subaru got another notification from Theo. _"Yeah, Subaru, they are still developing news regarding to this. Preliminary magnitude is at 8.0. Significant structural damage is expected in the Tokyo metro area. We don't know the depth yet."_ Subaru closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that Tokyo had suffer yet another massive earthquake.

 _ **Subaru and Emilia making their way to the dining room. Time: 1:00 PM.**_

" _Damnit! This is the biggest one that Tokyo experienced since the 1923 Kanto earthquake. I'll have to get more news of this as I'm having lunch with the others. I'll meet you at the dining room with the others. Rem and Ram have just completed preparing lunch, so come if you don't want to get hungry."_ Emilia was concerned about Subaru. Apparently, he had been talking about his home country, which was ravaged by a natural disaster. They made their way to the mansion's entrance. There was no one in sight at all. Emilia looked at Subaru. "Where are the others right now?" Subaru began walking towards the dining room. "Emilia-tan, they are in the dining room right now. Theo told me that Rem and Ram have completed preparing lunch, and are putting the food on the table. We have to hurry." They eventually opened the door that leads to the dining room. The elves in their looked at Subaru. Luctiana was the first one to speak up. "Subaru! You're quite late there! Did you spend a little too much time having a walk with Emilia? Or shall I say it, a date?" Subaru's cheeks turned red in his embarrassment. As much as he wanted to go to Luctiana and pinch her sides as much as he wanted to, Subaru resisted. Bidahsal waved his hand at his niece. "That's quite enough teasing, Luctiana. See, this is what happens when you watch too much anime and ship someone." Subaru eyes perked up as he and Emilia made their way to their seats. "You guys watch anime back in your world?" Theo turned to Subaru. "Of course we did. After Saito introduced technology from earth, Magitek was born. The video games, the use of technology, manga, light novels, and anime, all exploded in popularity in Halkegenia. You should have seen it. Two years after that, it was integrated into our society. Political advancements were also being made as well." Emilia looked at her father. "Father? Political advancements?" Theo nodded. "Yes, my daughter. A treaty was sign between the human nations and the elven nations. Both elves and humans live in Tristain, where we are from. Discrimination is basically zero. Everything there is quite nice." Emilia fiddle with her fingers. "That sounds like a nice place to be. Father…how long you live there in the first place." Theo looked up, then looked down. "About 100 years or so. I had to get used to the customs over there, in the elven nation." Bidashal cleared his throat. Everyone around the table turned to him. "Well, let's talk to Subaru about the new implementation of metias from Subaru's place." Subaru looked at Bidashal. "What did you guys do while I was on my walk with Emilia-tan?" Bidashal was still in his elven clothes. "All of us installed white LED alarm clocks into all occupied bed rooms. We thought that this would be a good first step into modernizing this place." Subaru looked downwards, thinking.

"That…that would be the right thing to do. You picked the right thing there, Bidashal. Um…yeah. Emilia-tan, the first steps to integrating stuff from my home town has begun. You will start to see changes regarding to what is happening in the mansion." Emilia looked at Subaru. "I see." Theo was on his Samsung Note 9, trying to figure more about the Japan earthquake that had just occurred just 100 miles off the coast from Tokyo. "Subaru, more new about the earthquake has just been revealed." Subaru looked at Theo's purple eyes. "Tell me about the details." Theo looked back down at his Note 9. "According to NHK, the depth of this earthquake was only twelve miles. On top of that, a tsunami warning has been issued off the coast of Japan. We also have first footage of the earthquake as it began." Subaru got out his phone straight away. "This is bad! I have to get a look at the situation right now!" Emilia watched Subaru franticly typing away. Puck also noticed it. _"Subaru's mind is in a stage of distress right now. He's really worried about his home country."_ Emilia looked back at Subaru, who was in a state of concern right now. _"Yeah, Subaru is. I hope he is okay. What can I do for him? What can I do?"_ Subaru went to , as that is the site for Japanese people. There, he clicked on the article title named. _"Preliminary Magnitude 8.0 Strikes off Tokyo coast. Footage has been included."_ Subaru clicked on the link. It took him to a page, where he can see the shaking first hand. This CCTV footage looks like it came from Narita Airport, which was one of the two main airports serving Tokyo. They also happened to be two of the busiest airports as well. Subaru shook his head. _"Narita Airport? This here is out in the lobby of the airport."_ At first, Subaru saw nothing happening at first. Then, the shaking started. It started as subtle, then got extremely strong. "Oh…Oh my goodness. Look at that shacking. That's insane." Airport signs were swinging all over the place, people began running out of Narita Airport as things from the celling fell. The shaking didn't stop for a full three minutes. Subaru's jaw was open due to him being speechless, as windows cracked and debris laid everywhere. He tried to put that image out of his head, but his curiosity got the better of him. "This, is another footage of the earthquake. This picture here shows a Japanese modern house with substantial damage. Horrible, just horrible." Emilia decided to go over to Subaru. She wanted to know more about the thing that Subaru was concern about. "Let me see it, Subaru. I want to understand, so this here will help me understand." Subaru looked at Emilia, who was right beside him. He turned a little red. "Um…okay, Emilia-tan. I'll get that up for you to see. Take a look at it for yourself." Subaru went back to the CCTV footage of Narita Airport. Emilia looked at Subaru's One Plus 6T metia. She noticed that this was inside of a structure of some sort, but she didn't really know where it was. "Subaru, where's this anyway? Is this in that capital you call 'Tokyo' of Japan?" Subaru's face had an expression of sadness. "Yes, this here is from Tokyo. To be more specific, this is in what were call it an 'airport', a hub for superfast transportation. Now, I'll start playing this thing from the beginning." Subaru played the video. Emilia watched the video. _"Puck, nothing is happening on the thing that Subaru is showing me."_ Puck replied in his crystal. _"Nothing seems off to me either, Lia. Maybe Subaru means that something bad is going to happen in this later on?"_ Emilia frowned, as she saw nothing from her point of view. Suddenly, the camera started shaking. It got worse and worse as free-hanging objects in the airport swayed around non-stop, people thrown to a panic. Emilia put her hand on her lips in shock. "! This here, everything is shaking like crazy. What is happening here?!" Puck couldn't figure out what is going on either. _"Lia, I don't know what's going in what Subaru's is showing us, but everything is shaking and swaying like crazy. People are panicking and running out, with objects falling all over the place."_ Emilia looked at Subaru as he shook his head, from shock. "Subaru, how often does Japan get these 'earthquakes'?" Subaru didn't respond for several seconds.

Subaru regained some of his composure to talk to Emilia. "Emilia-tan, Japan….Japan gets earthquakes all the time. Most of them are small ones, but ones like these are quite rare. When they strike out of nowhere, they are known to cause massive loss of life. We are not talking about ten people here that died, Emilia-tan. The death toll can be in the thousands." Emilia eyes opened in bewilderment. To think that so much death can occur due to a single event is incompressible to her. She has only heard of people that died, such as the Royalty of Lugnica, but that was only a small amount of people, compared to what Subaru told her. "Subaru, is that even possible in the first place? How is that number of people dying even possible?!" Subaru's face turned into the expression of major sadness. It was always hard for Subaru to talk about death. Even though he's been through hell due to Return By Death, he stills fears dying, as if any normal human should. Theo turned to his daughter. "Unfortunately, Emilia, it is true. There have been instances in Earth's history where massive loss of life occurred. For example, the 2004 Indonesian earthquake." Emilia tilts her head in confusion. "I…'Indonesian'?" Theo clarified for her. "It's another country from Subaru's world. Anyways, a massive earthquake occurred, triggering a tsunami that swept across the entire ocean. Due to improper warning system, massive loss of life occurred. The final death toll for this cataclysmic event is 250,000 dead." Emilia's mouth was open from how speechless she was. She had to listen to what her father said again. "F…F…Father…did…d…did you just say 250,000 people?!" Theo's face had a sad smile to it. "Yes, my daughter. 250,000 people. Do you want me to show you proof that actually happened? If so, I am going to show it to you on my metia. Be warned though, the images that you are about to see are disturbing and shocking." Emilia nodded her head as she played with her long silver hair. "O..Okay…father..I..can tolerate it." Theo went to Google Images and typed in the following: 'Indian 2004 tsunami'. That brought up photos of an Indonesian that was completely and utterly destroyed by the waves. Emilia looked at the image that Theo showed her. She began to breathe heavier and heavier in shock and disbelief. "Tha….tha…that used to be a town?! No….no..that's impossible." Puck was out on his form as well. As expected, Puck's face was an expression of utter disbelief. "Li…Lia…that used to be a town! And look at that! No sign of life whatsoever. Everything is totally gone. No…no one could have survived that." Emilia's face turned into distress. "We have to help them!" That was when Theo put his hands on his daughter's arms. "Emilia! Calm down, this has already happened in the past! We can't do anything about it! This is not from Lugnica, this is from Earth." Emilia calmed town. "I'm sorry, father. I….It's just hard to see this amount of destruction to a town. It's like…Satella went to this place and completely wrecked it." Subaru couldn't take seeing Emilia like this, so he walked over to Emilia and began stroking with her beautiful sliver hair. Emilia noticed it. "Su…Subaru…" Her cheeks were a little flushed, and so was Subaru's. He looked at Emilia's back. "When you mean 'special treatment', I mean it's a good thing. As in give you the best treatment. I've always wanted to touch your hair." Emilia looked down in embarrassment. "Y..you have, Subaru? Always wanted to do this?" Luctiana's face formed a smirk at seeing Subaru get imitate with Emilia, the silver haired half-elf. _"And so it begins. The bonds between a person from Earth and Lugnica."_

After Subaru was done with touching Emilia's hair, he walked back to the table. "All right, we are going to eat now, I suppose. Wait…that's what Beatrice usually finishes with! What am I doing in the first place?" A giggle came from Emilia, and that gave Subaru a moment to see her beautiful face. Obviously he has fallen in love with her. His cheeks were tainted red. Subaru looked at the others. "So, I heard that we are going to start on the second phase of implementing alarm clocks? What exactly did you mean, Bidashal?" Bidashal cleared his throat. "Ah, I almost forgot. Subaru, do you know those LED clocks you see at subway stations? You should have one in Japanese subways, especially in Tokyo." Subaru nodded. "Of course we have one. Do you see any uses regarding those LED clocks? Shouldn't nightstand alarm clocks be enough?" Bidashal looked to the right of him to think of a response. "Yeah, while that might be true, I think it would be necessary to install LED clocks all over the necessary rooms. This includes places such as the kitchen, the dining room, and Roswaal's former office room. We should also include one in the lobby. Subaru, we won't do this unless you allow us to. What is your verdict?" Subaru put his right hand on his chin to think. It took a minute for him to come with the decision. Emilia was talking to Puck. _"So Subaru and his friends are already busy implanting stuff from 'Earth' it seems. I still don't understand how all of it works. It's way out of my scope."_ Puck was keen to Emilia at all times. _"As long as it helps you Lia. Like I said before, I'll always be on your side. You should do what you want. Subaru wants the best for you. You know that, right?"_ Emilia nodded. Subaru finally spoke. "Okay, we will install those LED clocks in those rooms then. Anyone here can offer any more suggestions on what we will do here today as a team."Theo spoke to voice his ideas. "Subaru, as the lord of this domain, I think it's best for my daughter to convert Roswaal's room into something that we can use as an entertainment center?" Subaru was confused. He blinked several times. "I…I'm sorry? What did you say, an 'entertainment' center?" Theo nodded. "Yeah, a place where we can all decompress from the day and watch anime. On a huge 4K TV." Subaru was excited. Back in Japan, anime was one of his big favorites. "Oh! I would like to work as a team to accomplish that! I will introduce the mansion residents to that, including Emilia-tan. Um…Theo-san, how long will it take to rearrange Roswaal's former room?" Theo closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Well, taking into account the furniture moving, setting up the LED clock, and setting everything up, it will probably take several hours, assuming that we all work on it while Emilia is busy on her studies. Subaru, you and I will help out with the development of the room. Since you are the lord of the mansion, I want you to be the one that is in charge of overseeing developments in that room."

Subaru smiled at Theo and nodded. "So, Emilia-tan. Do you want to know how to use it? My smartphone?" Emilia looked at Subaru's One Plus 6T. She looked at the speed that his fingertips moved, and how he was able to extract information from this so called 'internet' in an instant. It was that instant that Emilia wanted the same that Subaru had, the One Plus 6T. "That thing there, Subaru. I want to learn how to use that. I think…it will be helpful for the Royal Election, and for other things too." Emilia let out a smile. This put even more fuel into Natsuki Subaru's heart. "N..No problem, Emilia-tan. In fact, by the end of this week, I think Theo and I will give you the first piece of technology from my home town. For now, we are just introducing the basics right now. Anime is one of the main things in Japan, Emilia-tan. I have always been a big fan of anime ever since I was in school." That was when Luctiana interrupted Subaru. "Hey, Subaru-sama. You said that you hadn't seen a girl since grade school. Is that correct, Subaru?" Subaru was annoyed at that question and raised a fist up at Luctiana. "Shut up! That was a long time ago. Are you really saying that you are interested how I attract girls in school?!" Luctiana scoffed. "Heh. Don't make assumptions like that, Subaru-sama. I was just a little bit curious." All of them continued to eat their meals. Emilia wanted to ask the Zero no Tsukaima elves about their thoughts on the mansion. "Tiffania-san, Luctiana-san, Bidashal-san, how is your stay so far?" Tiffania played with her thumbs. "Um…Emilia-san, it's been going pretty well so far. I have been enjoying my time here as a new member of the camp. Luctiana-san and Bidashal would agree as well." The other two elves nodded in agreement to Tiffania's statement. Bidashal also enjoyed it here too. "This place is an interesting upgrade from where I used to live back in my home. We live in the middle of the desert, along with the other elves. However, we were able to live there without any issues. Of course, the rise of Magitek helped along with it too." Emilia looked at Subaru. "Magitek?" Subaru closed his eyes. "Magitek is a term used for a metia that combines both magic and technology, taking the best from both of them. In fact, that is what they used to make their materializer, and enhanced versions of metias from Japan." Emilia looked at her father again. "I see. Does it mean you guys can take everything that Subaru uses from Japan?" Theo replied, pulling out his elven storage, which contained the Materializer. Yeah Emilia, we can definitely do that. The Materializer is based on one of the metias used in Subaru's world. We can pretty much make anything that is needed. However, we can't just bring everything in at once. Rather, it's best for us to introduce it in stages, as that allows for you and Rem and Ram to learn to use these tools. It has gotten to the point now where people from Subaru's place have these as their lifeline." Subaru crossed his hands on the table. "That's right. It makes our life much more comfortable and easy."

He sipped on his drink as he watched the others eat his meal. Subaru was eating as well. While he was eating, he was thinking about his parents, especially his mom and dad. _"I wish that you both can be here today to see Emilia. It's been over a month since I left Earth. Ah, life was much easier back then. I had all of that time to do what I want."_ Tiffania twiddled her thumbs. "L..Luctiana-san, how has the Fortnite experience been going lately? We seem to be having quite a bit of trouble in some matches." Emilia was confused at this talk between the two. "F..'Fortnite'? What is that?" Theo looked at Tiffania and Luctiana, then back at Emilia. "Don't you worry about that, that there is typical girl talk. We can talk about that once you get accustomed to Subaru's forms of entertainment later." Luctiana had that look of annoyance. She was quite a sore loser, especially at Fortnite. "Ugh…that stupid circle has screwed us over several times before. Remember when that annoying thing was on the other side of the map? We had to hurry, while getting shot at from both sides. And then, we were unfortunate enough to play against Ninja!" Tiffaina's ears perked up. That brought up bad memories, from when they both played a match. "Yeah…Ninja. Isn't he one of the best players in the game? I remember, we were in the top 5, and Ninja was playing duos. It..was quite the battle there, you know. But we lost, eventually. That…person was too good." Luctiana nodded. "No shit. It was like he was on some damn coffee. For crying out loud, we could both barely keep with that guy." Subaru looked at the two arguing about that video game. _"Even here, these elves are talking about a video game. They seemed to take the game seriously, especially Luctiana. I have been playing single player games for far too long now. It's time that I did something new."_ Subaru talked to Tiffania."So…um…Tiffania-san, how long did you guys have the technology from Earth? It looks like you learned how to use all of them quite fast." Tiffania played with her long hair while she was on her Note 9. When she head Subaru's question, she put in away and turned to him. "Um…Subaru-san, I think our place got introduced to technology around two years ago. I think one of the first things that Saito-san introduce to us was electricity, as we had only had lanterns like the ones you saw and the entrance as a light source." Subaru looked at Theo in disbelief, then back at Tiffania. "So, you are saying that you integrated electricity in a little over a month? Amazing." Theo joined in as well. "That's right. People all over Tristain switched from lanterns to electricity. It was bright, everywhere, especially at night, much more than before. We couldn't believe it at first, but due to that, it was like a bunch of dominos falling at once. In the capital of Tristain, we developed a factory, using my magic." Subaru shook his head. "M…Magic?! What magic?" Theo let out a smile. "Yang magic, Subaru. I can duplicate objects with it, you know. Any object. I can also upgrade stuff as well. For example, that Dell Gaming laptop. If there is a newer model, I can draw some mana to upgrade your computer." Subaru was excited. "Upgrade my metia?! T…I….I would so like that in the near future. For sure….right?" Theo nodded at Subaru. "That's correct. Just tell me the metia model, and I can upgrade it for free."

Subaru was happy. He then turned to Emilia. "If you want to know about my world, I think you should learn several terms from my world. One of them is called a convenience store." Emilia looked at Theo, then looked at Subaru. "'Convenience'?" Subaru was trying to come up with ways to explain what the word means. "Uh…um…do you know those stores you see in the capital, Emilia-tan? A convenience store is like the jack-of-all trades. It has the essentials that you will need. Basic food and hygiene stuff. Nothing too fancy or out of the ordinary at all. It's good if you want a quick lunch, dinner, or snack." Emilia looked at Subaru's phone again. "And that 'smartphone' metia, Subaru, can you get that from that…'convenience' store?" Subaru formed a smile on his face. "I wish, Emilia-tan, but they don't have smartphones at these types of stores. You will have to go to a more specialized store. On top of that, the food aren't fresh. For that, there is a type of store where you will find fresh produce and meats. In my place, we call those type of stores 'grocery' stores." Emilia played with her silver hair with her right hand. She didn't really understand what Subaru meant, but she went along with it. "So..this is where you can buy food and such. I see. Anything else that it also has?" Subaru took his time to think, but couldn't come up with one. "No, just food, Emilia-tan. Maruetsu is the name of one of the most popular grocery stores in Japan. Unlike in the capital, all the food is in one place, so you don't have to walk from one location to another. It's how the people over there get food to prepare meals at home, like mine." Emilia smiled, as usual. Subaru has gotten used to Emilia over the past month or so, but she was still as beautiful as ever to him. Emilia looked at Subaru. "Subaru, your parents. They must have also felt the earthquake. That tremor that you were talking about a few moments ago." Subaru frowned. He was worried about the state of his house and his neighbors. "My parents are inland, Emilia-tan, so the shaking is not quite as strong. However, Tokyo is the main concern. Reason being is that is the capital of Japan. There are much older buildings there that are not up to code with earthquake standards. You see Emilia, Japan is the most earthquake resistant country. Despite that, I'm not sure about Tokyo. There is most likely damage to that area, no doubt about it. I'll have to keep track of the news as we go." Luctiana was almost done with her meal. "You better keep track Subaru. Reddit news is going crazy right now. Honestly, I won't be surprised if there was fatalities that resulted from this. It sucks." Theo was eating the soup and the salad slowly. He was the type of person who would take his time to finish.

Theo didn't like that there would be fatalities in earthquakes, but they were unavoidable, especially if the earthquakes were shallow in the first place. "Yeah, it's hard to avoid that, especially when it is extremely strong. Wait a minute, new details are arriving in, Subaru!" There was a sense of urgency in Theo, both by the way he uses his Note 9, and his voice. Subaru also became anxious as well. "News?! About that earthquake? I have to check my One Plus 6T right now!" Subaru got on his phone and went to Reddit. There, there was the depth of the earthquake. The intensity just got upgraded by Japan as well. Subaru put his hand on his forehand and leaned back. He couldn't believe it. "Intensity upgraded to magnitude 8.3?! Depth only 10 miles. Oh no….oh no…this is bad. This is really, really bad." Emilia consulted Puck yet again. _"Subaru looks distressed yet again. Lia, I'm worried about him right now. Not as much as you, but still. This is an event that had happen in his home country. Most likely, loss of life has already occurred."_ Subaru kept looking at the Reddit pages and the comment section. Many of them were pouring condolences for the people that are at Japan. On top of that, there were people who posted videos of the earthquake as it occurred. Subaru clicked on them, as he wanted to see the viewpoints of people who were in different locations at the time. In one of the videos, a resident in the Tokyo apartment captured the shaking as it began. It was two minutes of pure terror. Books and dishes crashing to the floor, computer monitors falling down, desktops PCs crashing to the ground, lights swaying around as if they were rag dolls. The TV was also shaking pretty hard as well, moving in all directions. Subaru squirted his eyes to get a better view of the video that he was looking at. _"Look at that, everything is in complete disarray. Also, the Earthquake Early Warning System is in effect as well. Look at everyone at NHK taking shelter as well."_ Meanwhile, half-elf Tiffania was also on her Note 9 as well. She was looking at another footage, this time of someone in downtown Tokyo. Tiffania put her hand on her mouth in shock as she watched the buildings sway all over the place, cracks opening up on the road, and cars shacking violently. In the distance, Tiffania could see several dust plumes. _"Oh..oh my goodness, look at this! Those dust clouds are from houses that collapsed. And those cars too. Everyone is panicking, and for a good reason. If I remember correctly, Tokyo…um… hasn't been struck by something this powerful ever since the 1920s. There is no doubt..um..Tokyo..uh..there is a tsunami heading towards shore. I hope they take those warnings seriously!"_ Subaru went to each video. He even went one where the old houses collapsed due to not being up to code. "Look at that! The house caved in to the ground. Japan is in a state of emergency, and so, they will likely call for aid. News is spreading fast! Oh no."

By this time now, everyone was finished with dinner. It was 1:45 PM now. Emilia got up from her chair to go towards her room. She turned to the others. Subaru looked on. "Thank you for the talk we had. I liked it. I have to go study now, so I'll see you all sometime in the evening. I'll see you soon…Subaru." With that, the silver half elf left the dining room and made her way upstairs. The elves looked back at Subaru, who was just staring at Emilia. His cheeks were flushed. Subaru's attraction to Emilia became stronger over time, especially has a half-elf. "A…mmmmm. Emi…Emilia-tan." Luctiana snapped her fingers, try to get Subaru's attention. "Hello, Subaru-san! Are you even there!? You were staring at Emilia-sama for quite a long time, you know!" That snapped Subaru out of his trance. He shook his head. "Wha…no, I wasn't looking at her! I swear with my pinky finger. I swear!" Subaru looked at Luctiana. She had a smirk on her face. Subaru pouted. "What's with that face?" Luctiana shrugged. "Right, you surely weren't looking at Emilia-sama at the time. Your face wash totally flushed, and your eyes dilated." Subaru finished with his meal. "All right, that's enough t…t..teasing." Bidashal looked down at his hands, reflecting on the interactions that he had with his fellow elves, and Subaru. _"Back then, in the world of Halkeginia, the humans and elves hated each other. Now thanks to Saito, that peace can be finally realized."_ Bidashal looked at Subaru. "Now, that you all are here, let's get started on implementing the LED clocks around the essential rooms. Rem and Ram, can you join us on this?" Rem shook her head. "Oni-sama and I will join you, but only after we are done cleaning up. Speaking of cleaning, we are going to clean up." Both Rem and Ram bowed to Subaru before walking out of the room. Subaru turned to the people in the dining room. "All right, let's get started on the LED clocks!" Everyone nodded and made their way to the entrance. Tiffania was still in her original clothing. "Um…Subaru-san, what are we doing right now?" Theo separated himself from the others to make an announcement. "Before we do that, I would like you all to wait here for a moment." Everyone in the group looked at each other in confusion. Theo looked at Subaru. "I want to take you to your room, Subaru. There is something that I want to upgrade for you." Those words that Subaru heard made him scratch his head for a moment. "Wait a minute. Did you say upgrade? You can actually do something like that?!" Theo nodded. "Follow me, Subaru-sama. Bidashal, we will be back here about five minutes." They said nothing, and Subaru and Theo went upstairs. As they went up, Subaru had some questions to ask Emilia's father. "I haven't asked this Theo, but the magic that you are talking about? What is it?" Theo cleared his throat as they both made their way to the door that leads to Subaru's room. "Sorry about that Suabru. As for the magic I specialize in, I am the 'Yin' type. I can duplicate objects, change them into other things. This means, I am going to upgrade your computer." That statement took Subaru by surprise. "I'm sorry, what?!" Theo nodded. "Yeah, I can upgrade anything as well. Anyways, shall we go to your room?" Subaru looked at Theo, then looked back at the door. Subaru reached for the handle with his right hand and opened the door. They both walked in. Once they were both in, Theo turned to Subaru. "I have to ask you a question, Subaru. When you play video games, what do gamers most value?" Subaru had to think this one. Back in his world, Subaru couldn't afford a custom gaming build, because he didn't have any money. Subaru however, did know what PC gamers value the most. "That's pretty easy. Gamers like me value the most speed and the most powerful hardware possible. Something that consoles can't do."

Theo walked over to Subaru's desk where the Dell G7 was located and looked at it. "Subaru, I have good news. Dell had just announced the refreshed G7 lineup at CES 2019." Subaru was in shock. "It's already 2019 over there?! It has only been a month here! Earth was in 2012 when I left! How is this even possible?!" Theo closed his eyes. "I guess that how time works. Anyways, Subaru, since you were a gamer back in Japan, I want to give you and upgrade that will give you the best experience in PC gaming. Of course, this is your hobby, not a way to waste your time like you did back over there in Japan. So, shall I begin the upgrade process for your Dell G7?" Subaru nodded. "Of course! If there is a new version of this gaming laptop, then I'll upgrade it in a heartbeat! A gamer like me only wants the best of the best." Theo looked at Subaru with his purple eyes. "So, you want the best of the best. That means you will get the best of the best from me. Let's say that this is a gift for saving my daughter, Emilia." Theo went to his Note 9 and looked up the specs of the 2019 Dell G7. He picked them out right away. A smirk formed on his face. _"All right. I have to visualize this in my mind. 2019 Dell G7 gaming laptop. Graphics power will be the RTX 2080 Max-Q. Screen is 144 HZ. Laptop is thinner overall, and has smaller bezels. Elven battery still remains. Time to use my mana."_ As Theo concentrated his mana, Subaru watched Theo close his eyes. He then opened his eyes and extended his palm, which glowed as Theo concentrated more and more mana. Edan was also watching from within. _"Suba, what is Theo doing right now? It seems he is trying to cast magic of some sort."_ Subaru talked to Edan telepathically. _"He is upgrading my metia right now. Watch, it's going to be quite exciting."_ Theo concentrated all of the magic at the computer. A beam of white light traveled towards the Dell G7 laptop, which was engulfed in the yang magic. Several bright flashes occurred as the laptop was being transformed into the 2019 model. Subaru could only watch in amazement. He had the Dell G7 for several days now, and now he was starting to realize that Theo can upgrade stuff. When it was done, the light died down, revealing the new Dell G7. Theo turned to Subaru, his face forming a smell. "Looks like its complete Subaru. Why don't you have a look at the new laptop?" Subaru walked over to his desk and sat down. He first looked at the laptop. It was from Dell for sure, but the design was completely different. Subaru noticed that it was thinner than before. He decided to open the laptop, to which he was treated by the RTX sticker. The keyboard was also different. This time it was in black and white. The power button was also moved to the center as well. Subaru turned to Theo, who nodded to him as a sign of respect towards the half-elf.

"I must say, this new design is super slick. Let me turn this on for a quick moment. I want to see the new keyboard, if it has lighting." Subaru scratched his silver hair before pressing on the power button with his right hand. To his surprise, the keyboard color was completely different from what he was expecting. "Rain….rainbow colored keyboard?! A…a….amazing! Theo-san! You are the best!" Theo decided to sit on one of the chairs that were in the room. "You are very much welcome." He laid his hands on his back. As soon as Subaru booted to the laptop, he went to the Nvidia GeForce Experience to check the specs. Subaru blinked his eye. He wanted to make sure that this was not a dream. "N…Na…NANI?! An RTX 2080 Max-Q? A 144 HZ screen? Theo, I can't thank you enough for this!" To Subaru, this was a huge upgrade. Theo was excited as well. "Uh..yeah. The RTX lineup is the newest from Nvidia. The 2080 you have in your system is a beast. You can crank the settings all the way up and don't have to worry about playing a slideshow. Also, your monitor can display games at 144 HZ, so that's a nice bonus as well." Subaru touched his PC, a smile coming from his face. He had many thoughts about this upgraded computer. "Theo, you know, Luctiana is going to be so mad about this. You see that she is also an avid gamer, like me. I can tell, she was definitely upset in the dining room. The way she talks, and her body language gives her away." Theo looked the side for a moment. "Yeah, I can see where you are getting that vibe." Subaru went to close down his laptop. "I think we should both go downstairs to the main lobby." Theo simply walked out of Subaru's room. The door behind him was shut after Subaru was out of the room. They both made their way down the stairs, to which the other elves looked at him. Luctiana put her hands on her hips. "You're both back. Tell me, what were the both of you doing up there?" Theo wagged his finger at her. "I…upgraded Subaru's laptop." Luctiana fists balled. "YOU did WHAT?! Upgraded his gaming laptop?! What did you even do to it in the first place?" Theo shrugged. "Simple, really. I upgraded Subaru's laptop to the 2019 model of the Dell G7. It now has a new design with RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics and a 144 HZ screen." Luctiana had an agitated look on her face. She was not happy about that. "He gets the upgrade for his gaming laptop!? So unfair. Come on now, Theo. Can you do it for me too?" Theo looked at his hands. "I would like to, but I want to conserve my mana. That will have to wait until tomorrow, Luctiana. I am sure you can wait for one day without having better framerates." Luctiana huffed in defiance. She wanted the best of the best computers for her gaming experience.

"Whatever. You better give me that upgrade on that Dell G7, or else you are dead!" Theo turned to all of the others. "I plan to give you all the upgrade in the upcoming few days, so please be patient. And as always, game on!" The silver haired elf with the purple eyes fist pumped in the air, which Bidashal face palmed due to how cheesy it was. "You have got to be kidding me. I think we should be focusing on the LED clocks, right?" That made Theo shut up real fast. "You are right about that, Bidashal. I got carried away. Let's get down to it then. Bidashal, can you explain to Subaru about the custom made LED clocks that we used in our place?" Bidashal nodded and turned to Subaru. "Listen very well Subaru. We are going to use custom LED clocks for this place. It's pretty substantial in size. The design is considered of a simple digital clock that is rectangular shaped. On the top, there is a simple switch that will activated the super sticky pads on the four corners. This means once activated, it's extremely difficult to move it. Think of it as a better alternative to drilling holes in the walls." Subaru understood what it meant. "That's really good. It means the installation will be easier. LED clocks for Emilia-tan! Let's go! We are going to the dining room first." That is where the problems began to set in. Subaru looked for a place to put the clocks, but could not find one. "Kuso! There is no room to put that LED clock! Where could be a good place?" Theo looked at the fireplace. He then looked at the painting. "Subaru, why don't we get rid of that painting there and replace that empty spot with an LED clock and a poster from Japan. You are the designer here, so it's up to you." Subaru thought about it for a minute. "All right, you can do that. Please place the LED clock in the middle of that empty spot." Theo then grabbed out his Materalizer and grabbed a 16 foot ladder. Subaru merely looked on. _"Of course. There needs to be a ladder to get up that high in the first place."_ Theo set up the ladder in the middle, followed by him materializing the elven-exclusive LED clock that had the unique mounting design. He took the clock, walked up the ladder, took down the painted from the wall, and made sure the clock was leveled in the center. When Theo confirmed that, he pressed a button on the clock. Meanwhile, that painting was stored in Tiffania's elven storage. She pulled out her storage and placed it back in her pocket after she was done. When Theo tried moving the clock with force, it had no effect at all. The first LED clock was successfully installed. He gave Subaru a thumbs up. "All done for this one! Now you can look at the time in this room."

Subaru looked at the newly implanted LED clock. He felt that something was missing there, especially the space that is between the clock and the fireplace. "Theo, I want to add a poster in the empty space. Please make it an Absolute Duo poster." Luctiana looked at him with bewilderment. "Absolute Duo?! Man Subaru, you have such a bad taste for manga/anime. I tell you, Absolute Duo and Asterisk War are utter shit." Subaru gave a nasty look at Luctiana. "I dare you to say that again. How can you even judge a series if you haven't even read the manga yet! Everyone can have a taste." Bidashal agreed. "Luctiana, that was highly disrespectful of you to say that. Apologize to Subaru. Now." He pointed at his niece, who regretted saying that. "I'm…..I…I'm sorry Subaru for saying that. I should respect your tastes." Theo went back to materialize an Absolute Duo poster on the wall. Using the same methods, he was able to mount it. He came back down from the ladder and dematerialized it. Bidashal. "Now look at that. Otaku-ness and NEET-ness to the max with that poster. Right, Subaru?" He fidgeted with his hands. Subaru looked at the new things, the poster, and the clock. "Pretty good there. Our next stop is the guest room." The guest room was next. This was a place where visitors can go to. There is three green furniture and a small rectangular table in the center. In its surroundings, there is windows with light green curtains. There is also a fireplace and a picture with a drawing above. "Eh, I guess my otaku influences are already creeping in. Sorry, but that is who I am as a person. Once an otaku, will always be an otaku. I guess being a NEET wasn't as bad as it seems." That statement right there made Tiffania question Subaru. "Subaru-san, you are contradicting yourself. Didn't you hate yourself for living a life like that?" The silver haired half-elf looked at the blue sky outside. Subaru started at the trees that swayed beneath the wind. "Yeah, I did. But, I got hobbies from being a NEET. Just because you play video games all day, read manga, or watching anime, does not mean you should quit doing them." Subaru turned to Bidashal, who was waiting for him. "Bidashal-san, please get rid of that panting and replace it with the custom LED clock. Also, put an Asterisk War poster below it as well." Bidashal looked at Subaru. "Very well, Spirit Arts user Natsuki Subaru." He materialized a smaller ladder to get up to the painting. He removed it, then went back down the stairs. Bidashal pulled out his elven storage and put the painting in there. He put that storage back in his pocket, and materialized both the custom made LED clock, and the Asterisk War poster. There were attached to the wall. Luctiana looked at Subaru. "Modern technology is already being spread in the mansion. I like it. Subaru-san, any more rooms to upgrade." Subaru began to walk out. "We have two more rooms to go. Follow me. Next stop is Roswaal's former office room."

The party of five made their way to the double doors that lead to Roswaal's office. This place has been untouched for quite some time. Theo looked at the vases and glasses in this room. They were on the desk. In front of them, there is another series of double doors. In the middle of the room, there was four pieces of red furniture. There was three small tables lined up in a diagonal fashion, with the middle one having a candle. In the back of the room, there was another table that had a mirror of sorts there. Also, to the right, there was a secret passage that led to the basement. Tiffania noticed it as well. "Subaru, does your place have a basement?" Subaru nodded. "Yes, Tiffania-sama. It's as huge as the mansion." Luctiana was shocked. She started to think about all of the ideas that she could have brought to this place. "A basement as big as the mansion!? Why don't we transform that into an arcade complex?!" Subaru looked at Luctiana with a deadpan face. "Are you that serious?! First of all, that would take a long time to flip. And second, that would be a very bad use of the basement space!" Luctiana groaned. "But…but…the arcade games. In the real world, in Japan." Subaru shook his head. "As much as I love gaming, we can't just dump every single arcade machine into that place. Baby steps, remember?" Luctiana groaned. "And how in the hell are we supposed to put an LED clock here?! There is no room that I can see!" Theo looked up at the shelves that contained the books. There was a space for the LED clock. He turned to the others. "Give me a couple of minutes here, but I am going to attach the LED clock. I know the proper location for it in this room." Theo got out the ladder from his storage and materialized yet another LED clock. He grabbed the ladder and moved it to where the book case was. The other four watched as he successfully attached the LED clock, at the center of the available space between the book case and the ceiling." Everyone could still see the time. Subaru smiled. "That's great. One more room to go. I guess let's g…." Before Subaru could finish, Tiffania tapped Subaru on the shoulder. "Subaru-san, what about this place? You were going to turn this into an entertainment room of sorts. Where we all can watch anime from the Internet." Subaru pat his head on Tiffania, which caused her to react in embarrassment. "Don't worry about that, Tiffania. We all are going to come up with a plan of attack. As for now, let's finish Operation LED Clock by adding it to the kitchen. We may even catch both Rem and Ram right then, but they may be busy with their tasks right now. Our job isn't finished unless we complete it, right? Once that is done, Operation Anime Room can begin!"

"O…Operation Anime Room?! You can't come up with a better name than that?" Luctiana looked at Subaru with bewilderment. Subaru looked at her too. "Oh come on, give me a break. I had to come up with that name on the fly in the first place. Let's go to the kitchen now. We'll be back here." They all made their way to the kitchen, where Rem and Ram were still taking care of stuff in the kitchen. Rem looked at Subaru. "Subaru-kun!" Ram merely had a dead expression. She was normally like that anyway. "Barusu, I bet you have some ingenuous ideas right now for your 'metia'." Subaru looked at Ram. "We are going to put in a metia that has a more precise way to keep track of the time. Theo, do your thing." Subaru merely watched as Theo walked to find an available spot in within the cement wall. Eventually, he found one and placed an LED clock. Ram looked at the clock, then looked back at Subaru. "Barusu, this looks like a stupid thing." Subaru looked at the LED clock. "That is not useless. It tells the time in a precise manner. See there, it says: 2:50 PM. This means two hours and fifty minutes after noon." Rem agreed. This as a more accurate way of telling the time. Much more accurate than the lantern color code that they used. Rem and Rem were done with the kitchen and cleaning up. Ram brushed off her maid outfit. "So Barusu, any more grand ideas that you are going to give? Rem and I will follow you." Subaru turned to them. "We are all going to Roswaal's former office space that links with the basement. Theo, Bidashal, and I are planning to turn that room into something that we can use. To be more specific, it is the metias from my world which will be used as entertainment. They are far, far more advanced than any metia that you have seen before." By now, it was three in the afternoon. Subaru looked around in Roswaal's desk, which sat empty. "Theo, do you have any ideas on how to rearrange this into an entertainment center of sorts?" He looked at the 4 pieces of fortunate, and the three desks that were in a diagonal faction. Theo came with a crude idea. "I have a plan. That requires moving those three desks to the back of Roswaal's desks. Subaru, Tiffania, Luctiana, please grab those desks and move them." All three of them abided by Theo's command and picked those desks up. They were heavy for their small size. Subaru's habits of working out in the real world is paying off. _"Looks like working out helped me."_ These three desks were now behind Roswaal's desks. Rem looked at Ram. "What in the world are they doing? Oni-sama, what do you think?" Ram looked at them. It seemed simple enough to her. "Barusu and his friends are rearranging the room. They are planning to put something in this room for sure."

Bidashal also came up with an idea. "Theo, don't you think we rearranged those four pieces of red furniture to face where the TV will be? This is going to be a 4K TV, so we should probably place these about 6 feet away from that desk in the back of the room. The layout should be the two big ones in the middle, and the smaller ones covering the left and right parts. This should be enough for about 8 people to watch." Theo looked at the size of the furniture. Bidashal was correct in the size. "All right then. Subaru-sama, please start moving the bigger furniture within six feet of the table in the back of the room. Rem, you will help Subaru." Rem nodded. Both Subaru and Rem went over to lift the furniture. Theo then pointed to Bidashal. "Bidashal and Luctiana, you will help with the other big one." Both of them agreed to do this without any objections. The weight to Subaru was nothing. He had 70kg of grip strength. Subaru and Rem carried the couch to where Theo instructed them. Bidashal and Luctiana followed suit. Theo grabbed one of the smaller ones and puts it to the left of the big couch that was on one side. He went back and grabbed the last one and completed the seating set-up. Now, there is 4 couches. Two larger ones in the middle, two smaller ones to the sides. Subaru looked at the set-up with pleasure. He knew that this was the best they could do for now. "A little bit crude, but these chairs are comfortable." Rem stared at the set up, then turned to Subaru. "Subaru-kun, why did Theo ask us to put the furniture like this? There must be a reason behind that." Subaru turned around so that he could see Rem. He pointed to the table. "That is where we are going to put the metia. Right on top of that table. That is where we are going to put the television." Rem tilted her head in confusion. "'Television'?" She has never heard that word in her life before, much less someone talking about it so passionately. Theo was a tech expert, so he knew most of this stuff. "Rem, a television is a metia that displays a moving picture. The thing changes the moving picture depending on the signal that is transmitted to it. Usually, that is electricity signals. Moving pictures from another input gets converted to electricity signals, then back to moving picture again. These things are also common place in Subaru's hometown. It's also another form of entertainment." Rem was mindboggeled. These things were way out of her scope. She has not seen it yet, but judging from her One Plus 6T, which made a lot of things easier for her, this would be the same. Ram also though the same as well, having already adjusted to the new kitchen equipment. "Barusu, for once you have done something useful in your life." Subaru looked at Ram and chuckled. Theo meanwhile saw a mirror at the desk. "Subaru, remove that mirror so we have the space to put the TV." Subaru grabbed the mirror and placed it on Roswaal's desk. The table was now empty. Subaru looked at the table. "Um, Theo-san? There is a problem. How are we going to plug the TV power cable in? Without that, we are screwed. Also, we need batteries for the remote as well."

Theo was already prepared for that answer. "That's why we already came up with two things in Halkegenia. Elven power strip that can provide infinite power due to being infused with magic, and elven batteries for the same reason as well. Batters come in all sizes, so I have them in my elven storage and can make duplicates of them. Subaru breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, that takes cares my worries. Well, which TV we are going to get anyways?" Luctiana was already looking up one on her Note 9. "I'm looking at Best Buy at the moment. Currently, they have the 'LG - 75" Class - LED - SK8000 Series - 2160p - Smart - 4K UHD TV'. It seems to be a 120 HZ TV." Subaru was amazed. Back when he was summoned, 4K was only in its beginning stages. Now they were everywhere on Earth. "That's amazing. We only had Full HD resolution back then. This is going to be a serious upgrade. Emilia-tan, Rem, and Ram are going to be awe-struck at the crisp moving pictures! I myself want to see it too." Luctiana turned to Subaru. "I'm going to materialize this LG 75 4K UHD TV, Subaru. Is this the TV we will use in this entertainment room?" It only took Subaru about five seconds to figure the answer out. "Yes! That's a definite yes! I can't wait to show Emilia-tan this modern metia!" Luctiana let out a smirk. "If you say so, Subaru." With that, Luctiana grabbed the Materializer from her elven storage and proceeded to make it appear in front of her. The room glowed for a bit before revealing a huge rectangular box that contained the 4K TV. It had the LG logo with the UHD 4K in its place. Rem was surprised at the size. "That thing is huge! Also, it looks pretty heavy too." Subaru groaned in frustration. Since the TV was still the box, they still had to put on the mounts. "So we have to unbox this and put the mount on with the included screws. Just great." Theo walked to the space between the three windows and pulled out his elven storage so that he can use the Materalizer. He placed it on the table and decided to materialize the elven power strip. It had the same dynamic magnet attachment feature as the LED clock. Theo placed the power strip between the first and second windows and locked it in place. It began to give off a soft green glow as a result of it activating. Rem and Ram looked at it in awe. "Theo, is that a power metia of some kind?" The silver haired half-elf walked back to where Subaru was. "Yeah, that thing will power the television. Subaru and Rem, please place that box on the side. And don't drop that." Subaru and Rem walked over to the box and carefully lowered it down so that it was on the floor. Theo then materialized a box cutter knife. "Time to cut this open! Subaru, grab the manual when it comes out!" Theo analyzed the box and cut it open on the sides and on the top. It revealed to be a TV with an included manual, a remote, a power cable. There was also a bunch of foam protection pads and a composite white tarp that covered the entire TV. Bidashal stepped closed to get a better look. Rem and Ram looked at it in bewilderment.

"Rip the bottom part out of that foam so that we can get started on the mount. Subaru, you will be the one who will be installing the screws." That statement caused Subaru to pout in anger. He looked the screws that were include. Subaru was relieved that they were a decent size. Now, all he needed was a screwdriver. "Does anyone around here have a screwdriver or something? That would be handy right now!" Rem couldn't keep up with Subaru. "Subaru-kun, what is a screwdriver?" He answered Rem as Theo got out the screwdriver from the elven storage. "A screwdriver is a tool that is used to put things together in my homeland. Much like television and smartphones, they are everywhere. Speaking of everywhere, let's get these screws so that the mounting device is secured!" Theo walked to where the manual was and placed that and the screwdriver right next to Subaru. He pointed to the manual. "I have also included the manual, Subaru-sama. Feel free to look at the manual to see how they put it together." Subaru got to work on it right away as he looked at the manual and put the screws on the corresponding places. Rem and Ram both watch as Subaru completed with grace, finishing in about 10 minutes. When Subaru placed the final screw in, Theo signaled Bidashal to come over and lift the TV up to face the couches. Both Subaru and Bidashal lifted the TV from the bottom and placed it on the desk. They unwrapped the protective film that was covering the TV screen. Subaru went over and grabbed the power cable. He plugged it into the elven power strip, then connected the other end into the TV. This cause an LED notification to display a yellow color, indicating that it is on power and sleep. Theo grabbed the remote and used the materializer to get two AA Elven batteries. He placed it in the remote and reattached the cover. Subaru turned to Rem and Ram. "You see, setup of the television is completed. You are all going to love it when we turn it on. Theo, hand the remote to me." Theo complied with Subaru's request and gave the remote to him. They all sat at the red couch. Rem and Ram occupied the smaller couches while Subaru, Luctiana, and Tiffania sat in the middle couches. Theo and Bidashal decided to stand up for the time being. Tiffania was excited that she was going to watch TV. "Um, Subaru-san, we can finally watch television in Lugnica? Does it even work?" Luctiana looked at Subaru and Theo. "Yeah, does this 4K TV even work. It should turn on." Ram encouraged Subaru to turn it on. "Barusu, why don't you turn that thing on right now? You are talking quite a bit of time, yes?" Subaru cleared his throat. "Ahem. Sorry for the wait. Here is the moment of truth that you both have been waiting for. I hope you are all prepare to be blown away at the sight of this. So, get ready!"

Subaru aimed his remote at the sleeping TV and pressed the power button. The LED indicator turned blue, indicating that the TV was not in sleep anymore. Tiffania looked at the screen. "It's….it's…the TV is working, Subaru-san! I can see the LED lights changing color!" In mere seconds, the LG logo popped up on the screen. There was also text on the screen that was not recognizable to Rem or Ram. Rem pointed at the screen. "Subaru-kun, that picture there. It came out of nowhere! And those bizarre characters on the metia. I don't even know what it means." To Subaru however, this was recognizable. "That is one of the companies in my homeland. They are called 'LG'. They make metias like this for the consumer." The TV changed pictures again, this time it told Subaru to press the "START" button on his remote. There was a picture of a sleeping penguin beneath the text. Rem and Ram were shocked at how quick the TV changed pictures. Rem was blown away. This is getting to be interesting "That thing, changed pictures in an instant. I have never seen anything in Lugnica, or in my whole life." Ram and Rem nodded at each other rapidly, while Subaru was smirking at the fact that they were awestruck by this new technology that they have never seen before. The screen then changed to black, indicating the setup of the TV. _"Looks like this is the setup screen. Time for me to put in the settings."_ With that, Subaru set his language to Japanese. He also selected the country to be Lugnica and for the time zone to be in Lugnican as well. This was not surprising those extra options were included, since this came from the Materalizer. He was taken to the next screen. Subaru clicked "OKAY" and set the environment to 'Home'. The TV was already enhanced with Elven Wi-Fi that connects to Earth, so Subaru flew by the 'Get Connected' prompt. The TV told that he was connected to the Internet. He then was taken to the license and user agreements section. Subaru groaned. _"This shit again?! I'm not reading through all of that. No one reads them anyway!"_ In the next prompt, Subaru selected the 'TV only' to how the TV will get its signal. It then began program signaling, which was getting programs from Japan. All of them, in fact. When it was done, the TV was on the NHK channel. Theo fist pumped at the fact it was working. Rem and Ram faces was that of someone who seen something amazing in front of their eyes. This television produced moving images that were so crisp, and with people even talking as well. Since Japan spoke the same language as Lugnica, they could understand the talking. However, as for the characters, that will have to be left to Subaru to translate the text for them. NHK was covering the magnitude 8.2 earthquake that had occurred near Tokyo and gave a report on the injured and the death toll. _"The number of deaths so far has been confirmed to be around 450 people, and is expected to climb. Number of injured is around 2000, and it is expected to climb. Liquefaction has been confirmed around the Tokyo Area by police."_

Subaru watched the TV in sadness. Rem and Ram both looked at Subaru. "Subaru-kun, that moving thing said that people have died. And, look at those buildings! Some of them have completed caved to the ground! There is…" Subaru looked at Rem. "I know. This is unfortunate for Japan, and for me. To see my home country in this state. I have no doubt that landslides have already occurred." Rem looked at the roads and the towers of concrete and steel that were everywhere. The amount of people that was packed into an area was unreal to her. There were cars everywhere as well, the things that Subaru talked about. It made Lugnica's capital look tiny. "Barusu, that capital looks densely compacted. Is this the result of your homeland's virtues?" Subaru stood up and went by Theo. "I guess you can say that, Ram. Emilia-tan is still studying, so now that this television works, we are going to do our chores for the next couple of hours or so until dinner was done, so let's turn this off for now." With that, Subaru turned off the TV for now. Tiffania stood up as well. "I guess that Subaru-san's entertainment room is completed for the time being. Theo and the others will rest in the mansion." Theo cleaned up and placed his materalizer back in his Elven storage. The box and all of the wrappings were placed in there as well. As they went off, Subaru and Theo decided to pull Ram to the side at the entrance of the mansion. They were about to give Ram something as a gift. "Barusu, are you about to give me a gift? Your face looks like as if you are thirsting for Emilia-sama." Subaru's heart skipped a beat. "Wha…wha…where did you get that from?! No….it's not like that! I'm going to give you the same metia that Rem has been using since two days ago. I think you are going to enjoy the massive upgrade. Theo, please materialize one for her." Theo smirked. "So, you are telling me that I should give a smartphone to Ram as well." Subaru nodded. "Yes. I want you to show her the ropes of the phone. She needs to get adapted to it as fast as possible." Theo got out his materializer and made one for Ram. His eyes focused in on the type of phone. _"Okay, I'm going to give her the OnePlus 6T phone with 256 GBs of storage and 8GBs of RAM. The case will be a custom Re:Zero case with her on it."_ With that, it glowed green once again. The package that contained the OnePlus 6T and the case was given to Ram. She analyzed it with her bare hands. She did not know what is was in the first place, but she accepted it. "Barusu, is this the metia you are talking about? You are giving one to me?" Subaru nodded. "Of course, you may find some use on that thing." Ram looked at Subaru with a small smile on her face. "Yeah? Barusu, how I can I use that if I don't even know the workings behind it?" Subaru shook his head. "You don't have to. Theo will guide you through it. It is in 'I glyphs', so follow the instructions to set it up. I must return to my room now to make plans for the third day. See you at dinner." Subaru then went upstairs and disappeared from sight.

Over the next several hours, Theo taught Ram how to use the smartphone that she was given. He explained all the functions of the device, and how it works. Ram was amazed that it only used her hands to navigate. It didn't get to her right away, since she had never seen this device before. Rem was the same story as well. Although she knew how to use it now, the speed that she typed was much slower than Subaru. Ram used her keen eye to analyze the smartphone that she was holding. It was extremely smooth to her, as if it was natural to hold it in her hand. Ram tried to unlock her smartphone by pressing her thumb on the screen. To her surprise, it worked. It was like magic to her. Theo gave a sigh as he was about to leave the room at around 5:30 PM. "Well, I have to get back to my room now. You and Rem will have to prepare for dinner. I have taught you the ropes of using a smartphone, so please find a place to put that. It will becoming an everyday metia device that you will use." Theo made his way back while Ram played around with her phone, abet at a snail's pace. She sighed and went to the kitchen to prepare for dinner. Meanwhile, Subaru was in his room looking for new technologies to implement, then deciding to dedicate about an hour to Black Ops 4 on the PS4 Pro in his room. As expected, his reflexes were unmatched. Subaru was dominating every single match he played and he derived satisfaction from that. 6:00 PM followed, and Rem and Ram were almost done with preparing the meals. Emilia was also completed with her studies for the day as well. All of the mansions occupants went over to the dining room for supper. Emilia asked Subaru what he did today while she was studying. Subaru told her that he added more things from his hometown, as well as converted Roswaal's room into an entertainment center. Emilia tilted her head. "Entertainment room?" Subaru nodded. "Yeah, entertainment that kids around my age are into. Stuff like anime. We'll save that for tomorrow. Also, your father is going to introduce you to the smartphone and get you a head start on it. You saw how it works, now it's time for you to have it. Ram has already begun the process." All of them finished the supper, and Rem and Ram cleaned up for the night. By now, it was 7:15 PM. Emilia asked to see the entertainment room that Subaru was talking about. Subaru nodded and took her to the room that was converted. When she got there, Emilia didn't see the coaches. She also saw that the mirror was on top of Roswaal's office desk. "Subaru, where did you put the co…." Emilia's question was answered when she looked at the back of the room. There was a huge rectangular thing that was in the back of the room. "Subaru, what in the world is that thing in the back?" Subaru looked at where Emilia was looking. "Oh, that there is what I call a TV." Emilia looked at Subaru with confusion. "A…'TV'? What is that? A metia?" Subaru nodded. "That's correct, Emilia-tan. That thing called a 'TV' displays moving pictures. Do you want to give it a shot? Come on now, it won't bite." Emilia nodded and sat down on one of the couches. Subaru grabbed the remote that was on the desk. "Do you see this thing here, Emilia-tan? We call this a remote. This thing is used to control that metia. I'll demonstrate for a moment."

Emilia looked at the screen as it lit up. She was blown away at the moving pictures, which she had never seen before. The images were crystal clear as well. It was daytime in Japan, where NHK was still covering the magnitude 8.2 earthquake that hit just off the coast of Tokyo. "Subaru. That's amazing. I still don't really understand how this even works. There are also characters that I can't recognize, but somehow I understand what they are speaking. Subaru, that town on that thing was the one you are talking about? My goodness, so many deaths and injuries from that…'earthquake'." Subaru looked down, his face filled with sadness. "That is right, Emilia-tan. Earthquakes hit without warning most of the time. In Japan, the country has early warning systems. Sometimes you don't even get that. It hits you right away. The best thing to do in that situation is go under the chair and hold on for dear life. Falling objects from the shacking can really hurt you. Always, Emilia-tan, I'm just introducing this thing to you today. Tomorrow, let's hope we all have time so that you will get a first taste of 'anime'! EMT!" Emilia giggled. With her soft voice, she soothed Subaru. "O..okay, Subaru. Let's go out to the front of the mansion so that we can talk with the lesser spirits." Subaru nodded and pressed the power button again, which turned it off. Emilia pointed at the TV. "Subaru, you turned that thing out. Okay, we are going out now." Emilia got up and exited the room. Subaru followed her out of the mansion and into the front yard. There, Emilia began communicating with the lesser spirits. Subaru meanwhile looked at the moonlight that loomed overhead. He had a lot that was on his mind at the moment. Mostly about Emilia and how she is going to get accustomed to the new stuff at hand. Subaru recalled the moment he was sent to this new world, away from Japan and the boring days. Subaru shook his head. He watched in awe as Emilia was communicating with the spirits. It was still as beautiful as it once was when he first got to this world. Subaru touched his silver hair, which reflected the moonlight. Things were going to be much more difficult for him in the village. Discrimination was still at large through Lugnica, and this was another challenge that was added to the half-elf that is known as Natsuki Subaru. _"Come to think of it, I hadn't even made up with Julius. Wonder what he is doing at the moment. He must have suffered some consequences from that fight we have. But that was a long time ago, when I was still powerless, where I was simply a normal person from Earth that was given these powers by the Witch of Envy."_ Emilia talked to Subaru as her eyes was closed. "It must be boring to see me like this, talking with the lesser spirits." Subaru scratched his head. "When I'm with you, nothing is boring, Emilia-tan." Emilia turned slightly red. "That makes happy, even if you are only just flattering me. I say Subaru, with Edan, you are a sprits arts user? Why don't you make contact with the lesser spirits?" Subaru sighed. "I don't want to communicate with the lesser sprits unless it is absolutely necessary. I guess I should explain more in detail on how I become a half-elf in the first place." Emilia nodded as she was finishing her talk with the lesser spirits. Emilia sat down as Subaru began the talk. "During that time I stayed at Crusch's mansion for treatment of my gate, I came across someone at the capital. As you now know, I hated myself for being powerless, unable to do anything, just a pathetic ass NEET from Japan. Theo came up me at the capital and offered to repair my gate and also added the fact that I may gain some additional powers. He also told me that there would be a random trade-off. With nothing left to lose, I accepted. This is what I am now. He turned me into a silver haired half-elf that has an affinity for spiritual arts. And then, Edan popped up. I had no idea that other greater spirits besides Puck existed here in the first place."

Emilia nodded, as she understood how Subaru came to be like this. "But Subaru, this will mean the village will scorn you, just like I did." He shook his head. "No, they won't do that. As long as I explain to them what happened to me, it should be fine. Becoming a half-elf is not a curse. It is a unique, beautiful thing, just like you…Emilia-tan." Her cheeks displayed the slightest tinge of red. She pinched Subaru on the sides. "Subaru, you dunderhead." Subaru looked at her. "Well, if the Witch of Envy was a human beast, then the discrimination will turn towards them. Japan does not have any of that crap. Everyone is equal under law there. I would like to take you all there, or to Bidashal's place, where there is no Witch Cult or dangerous threats. That would mean there would be no point to studying for an election, because we have well established governments from where Bidashal and I are from." Emilia looked down. "I see. Japan, huh? No wonder it looks diverse there, from those pictures. We should probably go back into the mansion and get ready to turn in for the night now. Today has been another long day." Subaru nodded. They both got up and walked back towards the mansion. It was almost 9:00 PM right now. As they both made their way up to their rooms, they encountered Luctiana, who had taken a shower already. She began teasing Subaru right away. "Hey Subaru, how was that date with Emilia?" Subaru went tomato red and began to pout. "It's not a DATE! I was having a talk with Emilia out on the grass." Luctiana looked at Subaru. "Are you sure about that?!" Emilia could say nothing, but she walked towards her room in embarrassment. Subaru was sweating a little bit right now. "Trust me, I'm 100 percent sure about that!" Luctiana looked outside at the darkness, with the only light source being the lanterns out. "Anyways, the others have already gotten ready for bed. I was playing Fortnite with Luctiana for a couple of hours. We didn't read, because we can't understand the characters that Lugnica uses. I'll get going, I guess. See you tomorrow, Subaru." Luctiana turned and walked while Subaru hold up his hand, trying to wave goodbye. She disappeared before he could do that. Subaru went back to his room for one hour night session of I-glyph studying, where he also said good night to Emilia. As usual, Subaru went to change to his night time clothes after taking a shower and completing his oral hygiene. By now, it was about 11:00 PM. He walked over to his desk and opened his Dell G7. For the next hour, he looked at news on Japan and the damage reports in Tokyo. He was still on edge, because there were aftershocks that were associated with earthquakes. Subaru then played Overwatch for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The lantern in his room was now a blue color. _"These frame rates are ridiculous. This is truly next generation of gaming upon us."_ He turned off his computer and got in his bed. As Subaru drifted off to sleep, he reflected on the things that he did today. Things such as installing LED clocks, and convert Roswaal's former room to that of an entertainment center. Subaru couldn't be happier. Another day that was closed off, and another milestone, as Ram got her first smartphone, the One Plus 6T.

Within a matter of two days, modern technology has already been trickling in from the modern world. Things such as clocks, and televisions were proposed by Subaru as methods for making this place less boring to live in. The elves from Zero no Tsukaima and Subaru from Re:Zero have a mission. That mission is to incorporate modern technology in a rapid fashion such that the other can't not keep up. Already, curiosity has struck Emilia, Ram, and Rem. They were already blown away by the technology that would make the conference mirror look like an ancient piece of relic. To Emilia, Rem, and Ram, these things called 'technology' are super advanced metias that have very complex parts in them. To Subaru, these are everyday necessities that he believes will make life more interesting. After all, isn't it nice to relax and watch TV, anime, and video games? The mansion was only starting to get a makeover. There is more to come for the Re: Zero crew over the next several weeks or so, including the debut of the computer.


	12. Modernizing Chonicles (2): Anime

_At Subaru's Mansion, 10:00 AM in the morning._

As usual, the mansion was still asleep. Both Subaru and Emilia were fast asleep in their beds. Emilia was never known to be the type that likes mornings. She would have a hard time getting up. Subaru groaned after Edan forced him to wake up. "Come on Suba! Wake up! My goodness, you are regressing back to being a NEET shut-in again." Subaru rubbed his eyes. "Ugh, can't I just sleep for ten more minutes? Please, Edan?" The fox spirit circled around the sleepy half-elf. "Suba, you got to show Emilia and the others about your anime thing. Right?" Subaru stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, completing about what new technologies he was going to show to Emilia. Just a few moments later, a familiar voice knocked on Subaru's door. "Hey sleepy head, are you going to carry out the anime watching with Emilia today?" Subaru looked at the door. "I will, Luctiana. I won't forget about that." Subaru spoke in mumbles to himself. "Man, I have such terrible manga/anime tastes. Absolute Duo and Asterisk War? What the hell I have been doing with my NEET life back in Japan? I didn't even watch Evan, Fairy Tail, or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann." Subaru merely got up and materialized a quick breakfast in his room. This time, he was having some milk, tea, and chocolate chip cookies. After that, Subaru went on his Dell G7 to check on the earthquake that struck Tokyo about 12 hours ago. To Subaru's unsurprising doubts, there were numerous aftershocks that continued throughout the day. Subaru sighed to himself and walked into the bathroom in his room to complete his oral hygene. Once that was done, Subaru got onto his computer, where he looked up news about gaming. One such game was in the hots right now, and it got Subaru's attention. He looked at the screen with curiosity. _"Apex Legends? What is this game? Huh. Haven't really practiced at this at all. This will be interesting for me to look at for a game to play."_

Subaru looked at Wikipedia. "Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale game developed by Respawn Entertainment." His eyes perked up in excitement. He ran out of his room to go see Luctiana. She turned to Subaru. "Subaru! What's the matter? You looked like you discovered a new game of sorts." Subaru simply nodded. "Well, if that is the case, I must simply check it out with you. Take me to your room, Subaru." Both of them went to Subaru's room. He walked over to his computer area, where Luctiana was behind him. "Apex Legends? Subaru? Is that there….a new battle royale?! All right! Good find there! We will play together with Tiffania if we have time. Maybe get Emilia and the others to watch as well." Subaru shook his head with a small smile on his face. "I want to do that, but let Emilia finish her studies first. We can watch with Emilia-tan after she is done for the day. I don't know what I want to do with you or Bidashal, but I want to walk around the outside of the mansion. You know, Luctiana, it's really hard not to get addicted to video games, honestly. Is there something wrong with that?" Subaru looked down at himself. He didn't like how he wasted his life playing video games day after day. Surprisingly, Luctiana came up with a reply that took him by surprise. "Subaru, there is nothing wrong with being a gamer or otaku. People may judge you for being a loser, but you are not. Those things are you hobbies. They are the things you enjoy to do. I myself, am one of those gamers like you. We take gaming in our world in pride, not shame. You should not feel ashamed of being a gamer. Stay strong, Subaru. Game on! Teach Emilia-sama and the others how to game." With that, Luctiana heard her name being called by Tiffania from the first floor of the mansion. "Looks like my friend Tiffania is calling me. I should get to her now. Ask me anything if you need it, Subaru. Remember this, we all will always support you."

Luctiana walked out of Subaru's room. He decided to check on Emilia, but she was still sleeping. "Hmm, door is still closed looks like. Emilia-tan is quite the sleeper? Hey, Edan, what do you think?" Edan shook his head at Subaru. "What do I know? She is surely does not like mornings though. I think you should give her time to rest, you know? I suggest you just do your hobbies for the time being. Oh, and you have to come up with an anime to show to Emilia for the first time, you know. You got to introduce that Nippon culture." Subaru's face formed into a deadpan. "Yeah, I know. But what should I show her? A bunch of shows have already came out during the time I was gone. I decided to look up anime streaming sites to watch some of those new shows." Edan looked to Subaru, albeit with confusion on his face. "`Anime streaming site!?`" Subaru cleared his throat. "Sorry for having to explain this to you, but since my world comes from a more advanced state, most of the terminology I will have to explain to not only you, but to Emilia-tan and Rem and Ram. An anime streaming site is a site where if you don't want to pay for things, you can watch them for free. There's no point into paying for something like Crunchyroll. Also, something else you should know about me is that I despise ads with a passion. So I use stuff to block them. Anyways, today will involve another meeting at one of the rooms to discuss what anime we are going to show for the first time. Not only that, we will go through the entire series of the anime, covering each episode." Edan was not surprised at Subaru's level of otaku. "That's quite the project you got there, Suba. You loved the internet and your manga back then, right?" Subaru went to shut down his laptop and made his way to Theo's room. As he walked to his destination, Subaru replied back. "Yeah, that is a correct assumption, Edan. However, it was something that I should have not being doing with my life back then. Like I said before, kids over here at the age of 17 are considered to be adults. They are expected to work and make a living for themselves. However kids from my world, the modern world have plenty of time to indulge in many things. Unfortunately, that has become an issue in Japan. I was not the only one who lived a life of playing video games and surfing the internet to pass the time."

Edan looked at Subaru. "Man, how did your people even manage to make stuff like that? It's incredible on how you are even describing this." Subaru shook his head. "Edan, there are a ton of people in the modern world who are gamers, including me. I was one of the many kids who loved gaming. New games are constantly being made every year. The last time I was in my world, League of Legends was the big thing going on right now." Subaru made his way out of his room and walked down towards the main part of the mansion. Edan continued to chat with Subaru. "I see. Do you have those 'computers' that specialize in 'gaming'?" Subaru nodded. "Yeah, we do have those computers. The laptop you see in my room is one of those computers, designed for portability. Metias have been getting better and better. To own such a thing is quite expensive." Edan tilted his head. "Expensive?! Seriously?" Subaru has a smug look on his face." Yeah, that expensive. My laptop in Lugnica would likely bankrupt an entire town. That's how expensive it is if I sold it here. Should I give Emilia a gaming laptop?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind them. "What are you two talking about here?" Subaru turned to see Emilia standing there, looking at him with Puck. Both Edan and Subaru scratched their heads. "Well, we both talking about introducing new stuff to you later on today, after you are done with your studies of course." Subaru said. "I'll most likely get things set up with the others so that you are ready. Anyways, Emilia-tan, today is going to be another day of relaxing for me. See you later!" Subaru gave a wink to Emilia as he walked down the stairs with Edan. Puck spoke from within the crystal. _"Subaru seems lively again. He also gets kind of flustered around you, Lia. Maybe, just maybe, he likes you."_ That caused Emilia to turn red at the thought Subaru. _"Um…-hk. I..I can't think of such things right now! I have to study as often as possible."_

Subaru walked down to the lobby, where he was greeted by the other elves. He looked around to gather his senses. Bidashal was the one to greet him right there. "Emilia-sama studying as usual, I see." Subaru nodded. "Emilia-tan has to study for the Royal election. I on the other hand will probably look into developing new technologies around this mansion. If we are able to replicate and sell these new technologies, which would give us a massive advantage over the other factions competing in the election." Just then, Luctiana joined in as well. "That's right, Subaru-sama. The only problem that we will have to overcome is making it so that the operating system is translated so that it is in Lugnican. Theo should be the one to handle that, since it's the same language as Japanese, but using different scripts. Oh, and by the way, good news, Subaru. I have to tell you this." Subaru took in the message fully. "Good news? I wonder what that could be. Was a new phone announced?" Luctiana nodded. "Yes, it's the new OnePlus 7 series. They are going to showcase the products on May 14. If you are interested in that, I suggest that you tune in the livestream that will happen. There are going to release two versions of the phones. One of them will be the standard version, and the other is the pro version." Subaru shook his head. He could not believe that there was a pro version of the OnePlus. "Pro? Luctiana, why would they have two versions?" Luctiana puts her hands on her face. She closed her eyes, trying to come up with an answer. It was amazing to her how fast technology can advanced on Earth, even after being exposed to it by both Saito and Louise back in her own native world. "Subaru, most likely, OnePlus is getting ready for the 5G model. The year 2019 is a time when phones are beginning to transition away from the 4G." Subaru could not believe that as well. He just remembered when he got summoned to this world.

"That fast, huh? Phones are always full of surprises. Here, people can't even communicate long distance, and even that metia that Emilia calls it 'conference-mirrors' can only do so much." Luctiana wanted to ask Subaru something as well. "The last time you were on Earth, which was at a Mini Stop, right? Those type of stores are pretty common all around Japan?" Subaru nodded as he turned to look outside through one of them mansion windows. His face had a little smile. "Yeah, Mini Stop. That particular one that I was in was located in Chiba, Japan. My family moved there after middle school. Before that, we lived in a much smaller town. By the way, Chiba is located about two hours away from Tokyo. My parents were not in the house all day, so I had plenty of ways to waste my time." Subaru tapped his feet as he was exposed to the sunlight, which his steady rising through the sky. Luctiana was doing the same, taking in all of the sunlight that pieced into the hallway. She had plenty of things on her mind at the moment. From the first time that she arrived in this world, Luctiana felt a rush of nostalgia. That same feeling was due to the fact that it reminded her of the time before technology arrived in Tristain. Of course, the streets were a lot louder now with cars going around in Tristain, but that was a price that the Kingdom of Tristain had to pay if they wanted to advance in society. It was also expected that elves began to live in the Kingdom of Tristain after a peace treaty was signed between the elves and the humans following the conformation with the dragon. Luctiana had something else to ask Subaru, so she began to walk towards Subaru.

"Subaru, did you really have a preference for the type of video games you liked to play while you were a NEET back in Japan?" That question from Tiffania cause Subaru to think about the games that he was going to show towards Emilia. The silver haired half-elf turned towards Luctiana. "I remembered playing only single player games ever since I got into gaming back in Japan. It's only recently that I have gotten into multiplayer gaming. To be honest, I'm quite bad at it, since I have never experienced against other players before. I'm trying to get better at it though." Luctiana, listening to Subaru speak, tried to come up with something that she wanted to know. She wanted to know if Subaru played Minecraft. It was a game that came out around 2009, and it is approaching it's tenth year? "Subaru-kun, have you even played the game called Minecraft?" That raised eyebrows from the half-elf. "Minecraft? You mean that block building game that to you build in to survive? I have heard of that, but I have never played it. I don't think my computer back in my room would have enough power to run it." Luctiana gave out a sigh. "Don't tell me, your computer is so old that it can't even run Minecraft? What did you use your computer for? 4Chan?!" That sparked agitation in Subaru. "It's not like that! I did not use 4Chan! Wh...Why would I use 4Chan in the first place?!" Luctiana smiled. "I'm just playing around with you. Anyways, if you want to play Minecraft, you can always download on either your phone or your computer. The possibilities are endless in that game, and the only limit is your imagination. It's up to you if you want it." With that, Subaru pulled out his OnePlus 6T phone. As he looked at it, he couldn't help but wonder at something. This was all of the reminder that he had of his previous world. Luctiana noticed that Subaru was staring at his phone. "Subaru-san, what's the matter? You seem like you are thinking about something at the moment with that look on your face. If that is the case, I am assuming that you are think about Earth, about your parents, yes? Why would they not do anything about your status a as a shut-in in the first place? I think any parent would be concerned for their child, especially when their child started to skip for no apparent reason whatsoever."

That statement by Luctiana troubled Subaru. _"I was wondering the same thing as well. But that is just a generalization. My parents...my parents."_ Subaru's fists balled up a little from hearing that. He gave a stern look at the woodland elf. "No, you're wrong! I was trying to get them to throw me away, because I felt I was dead weight to them. That was a huge mistake on my part, trying to be like my father. Rem taught me back there the most important thing, trying to change for the better. And I should try to be that. I'm Kenichi's son, not is replacement. I should really stop trying to be like him, you know? It was caused me to lose every one of my friends back in grade school. This smartphone, along with my computer, is the last renaming technology from Earth. I still wonder how my parents are doing. They must be missing me quite a lot right now. A...And to be honest, I miss them too. I wish that one day, I will be able to see their faces again." Subaru began making his way to the conference room with Luctiana, and by that point, the other elves were waiting for Subaru. Tiffania, Theo, and Bidashal were already there. Theo greeted Subaru. "Morning, Subaru-sama. You must have had a good night sleep then. Well, you called us here yesterday to talk about the anime that we are going to show to Emilia-sama and the others." Subaru nodded. "That's right. We are going to make Emilia-tan's camp more like Japan. So we'll start discussing about what anime series we should watch together." Bidashal simply looked up from his Note 9. "Any ideas to start with Subaru? If not, we can suggest a couple of good ones." Subaru raised his hands towards Bidashal. "No need for that, Bidashal. I already have an anime series in mind. Back in Japan, I was a big favorite of isekai light novels and stuff like that. One of those light novels that I read...was..." Subaru then got up and did a pointed fighter up in the air and his victory pose. "SWORD ART ONLINE!" Everyone in the room cringed at that display. Bidashal had a deadpan face. "Your audaciousness in that is mind blowing, Subaru-sama. I'm sure that the Capital will enjoy seeing that."

Subaru looked at them. "Aw. Come on. Emilia-tan would like that, you know? I can't believe that SAO got an anime adaption. For the longest time, I was fan of the concept of virtual reality, being fully immersed into it, allowing you to escape from reality for a while. I wish that was real. So the first anime series that we are going to watch with Emilia-tan and the others is Sword Art Online. The fantasy setting should mean they are familiar with the setting, somewhat." Luctiana raised her hand. "Um, Subaru, I would like to ask you a question. Have you even seen the Sword Art Online anime?" Subaru's face turned into confusion. "I have not. I have only read the light novels." Theo look at Luctiana. "Didn't you know that Subaru came from a different time in Japan? He came from early 2012. The Sword Art Online anime adaption did not come out until late 2012." Bidashal was sitting in a couch seat, scratching his face. "So when are we going to watch Sword Art Online? After Emilia's study section?" Subaru nodded. "That would be the best time for that occasion, on that TV in the back of the room. I don't know what we are going to do when she is studying for the royal election. Maybe we can play tennis for today?" Theo shook his head. "Of course. I demand a rematch, a singles rematch. Best of three sets. After lunch will begin our match. As usual, you get some practice hitting in before we start. Subaru-san, do you accept?" Subaru hesitated for a time, but his face formed a grin. It was the same thing that he did when he was going to fight again Julius. This time however, it was a competition between two friends. Subaru looked at Theo. "All right, I accept your proposal. Please, give it all you got! I know that I will give it all I got!" Tiffania clapped her hands. "Subaru-san, you are going for a rematch? Subaru shook his head. "How could I not turn down such an offer? Theo wanted to play with me, so I accepted. As for the important meeting, we can discuss the implications during dinner. For now, this time is dedicated to relax. I guess you can say that I am return back to my roots, before I got to Lugnica. And without the NEET wasting his life away in a house!" Subaru then winked at everyone and pulled out his smartphone. "This metia right here, nothing in Lugnica can compare to this. It may look like magic to the citizens of Lugnica, but to us, it's called technology. We don't need magic back in my world, because modern conveniences are enough."

Tiffania looked at her Note 9. That was a reminder to her on how technology has influenced the Zero No Tsukaima world ever since Saito brought everything over. "Subaru-san, I would like to know several things. Aren't you concerned for how people view you as a half-elf? The people in this world don't take very kind to people like us. Also, we need to address the problem of Roswaal being dead, along with Satella." Subaru's face turned serious. "I...I...um...let me figure something out." Bidashal spoke up after observing Subaru's behavior. "We have to make an announcement of sorts that the the ownership of this domain has transferred to Natsuki Subaru-sama." Theo stood up. "But how? They will demand an explanation on why we are doing this. I think it is best that we reveal to the crowd about Roswaal's deception again my daughter. Then I will reveal to them that I am his daughter, and that we will be head of Emilia's camp from this point forward." Subaru nodded. "Let's leave the serious talks for later, Bidashal. I don't want to deal with them right now. As I said before, this is a time to be relaxing. Uh...Emilia-tan would love the relaxation too. I bet Puck would like it as well." Just then, Puck's voice rang out in Subaru's mind. _"I won't be sure about that, Subaru. Lia is pretty busy right now, and I can't maintain forum long enough so that I can watch the thing that you call 'anime'. However, despite that setback, I can still watch with you once Lia is done. She's been quite stress lately, ever since the Royal Election started, along with finding her biological father recently. I don't think it's wise to call Lia my daughter anymore, though I treat her like one. She has a real dad in front of her, and that's now thanks to you, Subaru."_ Subaru spoke to Puck in his mind. _"Make sure that Emilia-tan gets ready for lunch in an hour. We will be meeting there for lunch. Ram and Rem are busy tending to the mansion at the moment. I'll check on Beatrice."_ Subaru then cuts off the communication with Puck and turns to the others. "I am going to pay a visit to one of my friends, Beatrice." Everyone in the room nodded Subaru as he walked out. Theo turned to Bidashal. "It seems that Subaru has accepted that he will be a half-elf for the rest of is life, quite easily. I'm surprised at that." Bidashal looked at the double doors that Subaru exited from. "Why are you surprised? Subaru is from Chiba, Japan. Discrimination there is heavily looked down upon. He does not care on his looks or race."

Luctiana looked at both of them. "Subaru-san would be fine, I'm sure of it. He's always been this type of person, who like so talk quite a lot. The only difference now, is that he is trying to be like his father. Sons are not replacements for fathers, they are their own individual person." As she said that, the other elves are processing what was happening at the moment. In another room, Subaru tried to find Beatrice's door. As expected, he found it on the very first door and opened it. "Who's there? Oh, it's you. You look different...I suppose. I detect you aren't human anymore." Subaru nodded. "That's right, Beatrice! I'm a half-elf! And what I happened over the past couple of days is significant. The Witch of Envy is dead. My connection with her has been severed for good." That caused Beatrice to raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that? That's impossible. Legends have it that she was sealed by 4 people." Subaru objected. "But that's true, Emilia's father found a way to get rid of her for good, and I don't have the Witch Scent on me." Beatrice, the loli, went over and analyzed Subaru. "You don't have any traces of the Witch on you. So that means I can take at as you are not lying...I suppose?" Subaru shook his head. Beatrice walked back to her chair. "If you don't have anything more to day, or to use the library, then you must leave." Subaru nodded. "Oh well, then. It was nice seeing you here once again. Goodbye for now." Subaru began walking out of Beatrice's realm and began to open the door to make his leave. "And before I leave, I would like to let you know that I am the new lord of this domain now." He then closed the door, leaving a bewildered Beatrice behind in the library. "New...lord? What does he mean?" Outside, Subaru encountered both Ram and Rem, who greeted him. "Barusu. Look at those flashy clothes of yours. You look like a fool with those." Subaru's face had a small smile on it. Rem had a smile on her face too. "Sister can be a little hard on you, but she means well. We are just cleaning right now, which you used to do when Roswaal was around here." Subaru nodded, as he looked at the clock. It was about 11:00 AM now, which means 1 hour left to dinner. Subaru scratched his head. "Ah, I should not hold you up any longer. Lunch is about to start about an hour from now, and you have to make meals for us. I'll leave you to the kitchen." Ram had a smirk on her face. "Barusu, you can be assure that Rem will do her best to make the best meals. Thanks to your 'metia' additions, we can make stuff faster as easier." With that, both of them bowed and began making their way towards the kitchen.

Subaru made his way back to the meeting room with the other elves. Bidashal was the first to comment. "How did your meeting with Beatrice go, Subaru-san?" As usual, Natsuki Subaru was upbeat. "She's a little cold, as usual. But once you get within her circle, she is pretty nice as a person. It's just that she does not open up easily to other people, and would rather stay in the library. She is contracted to do so anyway." Subaru was trying to think of anything that was on his mind today. "Oh, I almost forgot. There is a room that Emilia-tan uses to try and sing. She's tone deaf, or so, that's what I heard. We are going to use that hour to improve that room and add a karaoke machine that has a projector, with a microphone and speakers. With this, we can sing any song that we find online." That raised an eyebrow from Luctiana. "You can sing?!" Subaru nodded. "Yeah, actually, I sew and practice singing when I'm not gaming back in my world in Japan." Tiffania, the half-elf, also added to Subaru's statement. "If I remember, back in our own world, karaoke bars were starting to pop up as well. People in Tristain liked singing, so new technologies made it more convenient for them." Theo fiddled with his fingers. He was basking in amusement on how weak Roswaal was. _"So, the strongest mage in Lugnica couldn't resist the Death Note. That's kind of disappointing. To be honest though, the way Roswaal speaks gets on my nerves, along with his looks. Good thing that riddance is gone."_ Theo gritted his teeth in annoyance. Subaru noticed. "Anything wrong, Theo? You look agitated." In fact, Theo didn't realize he was tensing up. "Wha-. Oh, so sorry about that, Subaru. My emotions got the better of me there." Subaru let out a sigh. "Well, that's a good thing, because we don't something like me having an outburst back at the capital. I say we can dedicate the time right now to modernize that singing room and equip it with some of the best things we got from Japan. If there is nothing left to say, then lets get to work! Follow me to that room." With that, Subaru began walking out of the meeting room, with the elves following closely behind him. They eventually made their way to the room that was the singing room. There, the only thing it there was a metal bucket. Luctiana looked at the metal bucket. "Metal bucket? Why in the hell would you need a metal bucket to sing in the first place? And look at all of the empty space in the room. What a waste! Subaru-kun, do you have any idea about this room?" Subaru shook his head. "Not much from what I remember. All I know is that I was toured around here by Ram and she told me that Emilia-tan used it. I didn't know why she used it though." Luctiana though took the initiative. "The first thing that this room needs is a projector, a microphone and huge speakers. So I'm getting my Materializer and getting the necessary parts now." Within 10 seconds, Luctiana was fast at work getting the parts, as Subaru was speechless at how at front she was. "Um, Bidashal, was Luctiana always like this?" Bidashal let out a smile. "No, not really. Luctiana used to be more conservative."

Subaru looked at Luctiana. "She used to be more conservative? She's just as social as me now. It seems like something happened to her over the past couple of years." Bidashal looked at his long hair. "Well, she started to change after the peace treaty was signed between the elves and the humans. She befriended quite a bit of humans back in our world. I used to remember her calling humans 'savages'. She does not say that as much as she used to, but it slips from time to time." Subaru simply looked as Luctiana materialized six mics, a bunch of speakers, and a projector that can be connected to a phone or a computer for karaoke purposes. Luctiana turned to the rest of the crew. "What are you all waiting for in the first place? Help me set up this thing!" Subaru shook his head. "Sorry about that. We'll get right down to it. Since you know how you are going to make this room, you will be talking the lead." Luctiana had a big smirk on your face. "For once, I'll be the lead here. Subaru, you're still the lord of the mansion, so don't go slacking off with playing on your gaming laptop!" Subaru raised his hands. "Okay! Geez, are you going to keep grilling me on that?" Theo chuckled to himself at watching the two bicker. _"Teenagers these days. I feel so old compared to them."_ Tiffania was the one to set up the projector in the front of the room, and Luctiana directing Subaru and Bidashal to set up the singing area. All of the speakers were hooked to the mics, and the newly designed room was ready to go in 30 minutes. Luctiana walked around to make sure that everything was in place. She then turned to the others. "Well done. Now, if you want to test it out, we can have someone come up and sing for us!" Of course, Subaru was the one to go forward and accepted the offer. "I'll test the audio, and my singing at the same time. Oh, and by the way, if anyone of you are worried about sound leaking from the walls, don't worry. Ram told me that this room was sound proof. For now, I'm gonna get my OnePlus 6T and hook it up to the pr..." As Subaru got out his phone, it began to glow a bright white light, which caused Subaru to close his eyes, along with everyone in that room. When it was done, it seemed like the phone got bigger. _"You're welcome, by the way. Suba, I just upgraded your OnePlus phone to the 7 Pro model. I hope you will enjoy it."_ Subaru was shocked that Edan can do that. _"Are you telling me you can do such a thing?!"_ Edan, still in the crystal, confirmed it. _"Of course. I'm your ally, remember? You like technology and your video games, so you should keep up with the best._ _"_ Subaru let his hand go to the blue crystal on his chest. He let out a small smile before walking to where the projector was and plugging in his OnePlus 7 Pro phone.

 _"Now, which song should I go with. Wait a minute...ah ha! 'Rage Your Dream' by Initial D."_ Subaru went to YouTube and looked up that. He scrolled to the karaoke video, and it began to play immediately. Subaru walked over to the singing area. Theo instantly recognized this song. _"Initial D?! Subaru-kun, you have good taste. Eurobeat is always a fun thing to listen to."_ Theo's head began to bob as the song began. Subaru looked at the others as the beginning part began to run through. Subaru hips were moving to the beat as he wait for the chrous to start. The others began to clap to the beat of the song. Subaru let out a small smile. _"It's been a while since I sang, the first time since I came back from Japan. Well then, lets see how this goes."_ Subaru pulled the mic close to his mouth and turned it on. The speakers were on. Finally, Subaru's singing voice came out. His voice was a baritone's voice, although it was a little shaky due to him not singing ever since he left Japan. It was different than his normal talking voice.

 _I got no impression gray no kanjou  
BOKASHI mo ire sugi machijuu ha imitation  
Real o motomete takaburu anata ga  
chikaku ni yorenai hodo ATSUKU naru_

Luctiana watched as Subaru sings out to his hearts content. _"This former NEET is a pretty good singer. I wonder why he didn't use this at his school talent show?"  
_

 _Feel your frustration anata no sakebi o  
Taste your vibration furueru hodo ni kanjiteiru_

Bidashal simply listened to the masterpiece that was known as Eurobeat music. The first time he listened to it is when Saito, Louise, and the other elves watched Initial D, with all the stages watched. They enjoyed the Japanese street racing series. "Here comes the main chorus now. This is where it is going to get really good." Tiffania nodded. "Hmm, that would be Subaru singing. His singing voice will probably make Emilia-sama stick on this room for quite a while." Subaru entered the main chorus.

 _Rage your dream toki o kakenukete yuku kaze mo hikari michite yuku  
Rage your dream matteiru koto dake o Feel the wind wasurenaide ite  
Rage your dream tsudzuku hatenai michi o ai mo kakou mo furimukazu_

 _yukeru anata kagayaiteiru Rage your dream ima o ikiteiru_

The other elves were awed at how good Subaru's singing was. If he was back in the real world, in Japan, Subaru would have been just as popular as his father. Everyone in Subaru's town would know him as the son of Kenichi, who was loved by everyone in the town. However, this here was Lugnica, where people still judge half races with prejudice, meaning that Emilia's road to becoming the King of Lugnica will be harder than the other four candidates. The people fear the Witch of Envy, who wrecked havoc on the world 400 years ago. That fear has been edged in the people hearts, with Emilia already have experienced it first hand. Subaru on the other hand will have to face the same hardships as well, since he is now a half-elf. As the new lord of the mansion, Natsuki Subaru has many responsibilities. However, it seems that Subaru is taking his role as the new as anything but serious. Speaking of which, he was really getting into the song now.

 _My pride says "You gotta be wild & tough"_  
 _sou tanin ha kaizai shinai_  
 _never stop tomari takunai_  
 _gisei ni natta ai ga cry shite mo_  
 _Peak mezashite sweep the winding street_  
 _Beep beep! keikoku oto ha so cheap_  
 _sheep-tachi ha michi o akero_  
 _Cos I'm never gonna stop streak my dream_

 _Easy na motivation subete ha simulation  
nigete mitatte doko demo safety zone  
nani ka o te ni irete nani ka o wasureteku  
sekai ga kowarete mo kawaranai_

Meanwhile, back at the kitchen. Rem and Ram were preparing meals, as usual for the day. "Barusu is doing his usual things I see? The new lord is slacking quite a bit on the first couple of days." Rem nodded. "Subaru-kun is a special person. He'll get things done, I'm sure of it. He saved me from myself back then, and I saved him from himself, with the help of that Theo guy." Ram nodded as she prepared the carrots and meat for lunch. "Emilia-sama has already done her morning routine with talking with the spirits. I wonder what ridiculous idea Barusu is going to come up with next for Emilia-sama." Rem, the blue haired oni, had a small smile on her face as she made the last dishes for lunch.

Back in the singing room, Subaru was still going at it. It was clear to the other elves that Subaru was enjoying it quite alot. They wanted to join into the karaoke as well, but they let Natsuki Subaru in the spotlight. Tiffania tilted her head. "I wonder what Rem, Ram, and Emilia-sama would think of Subaru's singing. He good at other things as well, not just sewing. Right?" Bidashal simply spoke in a quiet voice. "I'm sure that they would also enjoy Subaru's performance as well. He is doing great for not singing for a while. Here he goes, he's about to enter the second chorus segment of 'Rage Your Dream'."

 _Beasty shout dare no te ni sae oenai_  
 _hageshii yume jikan sae mo ima koeteku_

 _Rage your dream kaze no naka de mabushiku sakebu anata yume-tachi to  
Rage your dream kodou tomaru kurai ni I can feel tsuyoku kanjiteru  
Rage your dream yami o hari saiteiku Life a streak to the peak sekaijuu no  
kogoe kitta yoru o keshiteku Rage your dream michi o hiraiteku_

 _Di-ding dang another round, never slowdown  
KONMA ZERO ICHI byou de Knock down  
yoin nokoshi kiete kou to the next town  
hokori mau haishachi ni hau  
rikutsu dake no NOOGAKI-tachi  
jama KUSAI kara SHIKATO shite ikou  
Streaker satteiku street no mukou  
Something they would know_

Theo nodded as the song got closer to completion. _"Here comes the final part of the song. I know you can do it, Subaru! Finish the song nice and strong!"_

 _ _Rage your dream toki o kakenukete yuku kaze mo hikari michite yuku  
Rage your dream matteiru koto dake o Feel the wind wasurenaide ite  
Rage your dream tsudzuku hatenai michi o ai mo kakou mo furimukazu__

As Subaru finished the last vocals, the song ended not long after. Claps could be heard from the other elves. Subaru was a little winded due to the singing, but he's fine. "So, how did I do? I mean, that was my first time pushing my singing this far since I came to this world." Theo was the first to speak. "You did a fine job, Subaru. Though a little rusty at times, your singing voice is amazing. It sounds like an angel." Subaru turned of the mic and went down to grab his OnePlus 7 Pro phone. He looked at the time. "Crud, it's 11:45 AM now. It's almost time to eat. We should probably make our way to the dinning room. I'm pretty sure that Rem and Ram have made our meals for us already." Subaru turned off everything in the karaoke room and let the way out. The group made their way to the dinning room, where they took their usual spots. Subaru was itching on his arm a little, which prove to be a minor annoyance to him. Subaru tried the camera feature on the OnePlus 7 Pro, which was much clearer than his old flip phone. _"Comparing the camera from my flip phone to this is not even close. This is like light years better in every way. I can never go back to that crummy phone that I had before I got isekai'd into this world."_ Subaru then tested out the selfie camera, which retracted up. This caught Subaru by surprise. His face was filled with both amusement and amazement at the same time. Theo took notice at what Subaru was looking at. "Just got a new upgrade to the OnePlus phone? That my friend, is what you call advancement in technology. It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? True, I wasen't into tech before Saito introduced it, but I can never part with this device. I'm pretty sure that you were starting to miss the capabilities of your phone before we got here." Subaru shook his head. "Not exactly. My flip phone was on its last legs when I came to Lugnica. Also, did you forget I have your beautiful daughter named Emilia-tan by my side. Everyday is something different, you know?"

Theo let out a small sigh. "Can't say anything against that, really. Anyways, we are going to meet in the entertainment room after Emilia studies, correct?" Subaru nodded. "That's the plan for today. As for tomorrow, we are probably gonna start considering making an announcement to the villagers. We'll most likely do that at the 1 week mark. There's a high chance that they will start being concerned with Roswaal not being around for a while." Theo stood up. "But what are we going to say to them, Subaru? You know that Satella, is feared by everyone. My daughter is unfortunate to look like her. I also think that the people aren't giving her a chance. I have watch your anime, and saw that she was being turned away by the other villagers. Makes no sense for a person like you, who was from Japan, raised with non-bias towards other races." Subaru nodded. "Theo, that's true. We value equality and respect in Japan, more than anything else. This half-elf discrimination is pretty petty. Should I show to them as a half-elf? I really want to use my disguise watch in my human form, before you transformed me. I can't afford to show the villagers that I have been transformed into an half-elf. There's no way I can do that. Sorry." Bidashal nodded. "You're still getting used to being a half-elf, so don't worry about it, Subaru-kun. It's normal to be in doubt about what you are now, and we are not going to force you. It's gonna be on your own terms." Subaru's face formed a smile. "Yes, that's would be nice. I'll still holding back on my powers, my shadow magic powers. They are extremely dangerous, and I don't want to hurt anyone." Luctiana played with her hair before she heard the double door being opened. "Subaru, someone else is entering the dinning room. It's most likely Emilia-sama who is here."

As Luctiana predicted, Emilia entered the room and sat in her usual spot. "Hello everyone. It's good to see that everyone is doing fine. Including you, Subaru." Subaru's face had a faint tint of red on his face. "Um...It's good to see that yo...been doing well, Emilia-tan. Yo..You see, we had just come up with the anime that you and the other can watch with us when you are done with your routine." Emilia eyes looked up. "This 'anime' thing is pretty new to me, Subaru, so I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it. All right, we can do that 'anime' thing after we are done with my studies, okay? Royal election means that everyone is busy, including myself." Subaru rubbed his nose from the itchiness. "Ah, I forgot to tell you, Emilia-tan. Our first anime will be SAO." The reaction Emilia had was that of confusion. "'SAO'? Is that the name of the 'anime'?" Subaru nodded. "It's better known in Japan as Sword Art Online. Like the fairy tails in Lugnica, we have a setting and we have its characters. There are countless shows like these, for entertainment purposes. I'm hoping it'll help relieve some of the stress due to the ongoing royal election."

Emilia looked down at where Puck was located, on her chest. She shook her head. "Mmm...that's fine Subaru. I'll be okay, you know?" Subaru looked at Emilia with a troubled expression. "All right then. I guess we will be waiting for our food to come in within the next five minutes or so." Sure enough, Rem and Ram arrived with the meals. They were the same, as usual. Nothing has changed from the ownership from Roswaal to Natsuki Subaru when it comes to the food, well, slightly faster cooking times. Rem and Ram sat down at their respective seats. Subaru took notice. "I can see that both of you took my advice that you don't have to bow to me every time." Ram then stepped in. "Don't get the wrong idea, Barusu. We are only doing that because you are our new master." Subaru was surprised at that fact. "Eh?!" However, Rem defused Subaru's fears. "Ram is just joking with you again. Oh, and you did say something about an 'anime' that we will be viewing later today?" Subaru crossed his arms. "When the free time comes, all of us are going to watch Sword Art Online. Luctiana will explain what it is all about." Everyone turned their eyes to Luctiana, the elf. She let out a exhilarated sigh. "Way to put the spotlight on me, Subaru. Anyways, Sword Art Online takes place on Earth, where Subaru comes from. The main character is named Kirito, a gamer like Subaru. They have something that is called FullDive, an extremely advanced metia concept where you are literary emerged in the gaming experience. Normally, video games that Subaru plays are for the purpose so that they are enjoyable. However..." Emilia tilted her head, as if Luctiana was going to say something bad. "What do you mean by that, Luctiana-san? I don't like the way it is going." Luctiana shook her head. "Your institution is correct, Emilia-sama. Kirito is trapped in the game. This also means another fatal consequence. If he dies in the video game, he dies for good." That took Rem, Ram, and Emilia by surprise. Gasps could be heard coming from them. Emilia was the first to comment. "N...No way. So that means if...he dies in this 'video game', he dies for real?! That's impossible! That does not make any sense!"

Theo nodded. "My daughter, unfortunately, that is correct. The NerveGear in this story can be designed to fry your brain if you died in it. In other words, there is no 'logout' button, meaning that the person has no way of logging out." Emilia shook her head, as she was still unsure of what to think of the NerveGear. "Now that you said that..um...father, what is the purpose of this...metia that is called 'NerveGear' in the story?" Theo looked up for a little bit, then looked back down. "Emilia, think of it as like a video game you play, with all of your five senses. People immerse themselves in these games just to take a break from real life. Subaru was still in school back then, but being out in the workforce can be stressful. Speaking of which, 10,000 players were trapped in that game, meaning that those lives were at risk." Theo had a sad look on his face, remembering the harsh fate that awaited the fallen. Rem, not knowing of the deadly game, had a couple of questions. "So, did all 10,000 make it though alive? Did they?" Theo's head sunk down. "No, Rem-sama. Not all of them did. The person running behind the deadly game stated that to liberate all of the people, they must clear all 100 floors of Aincad, where everyone starts at floor 1, the main town. Some people didn't even bother to form an alliance, because if you died in game, you died for real. What you are about to see in this anime is no joke. It also has several arcs waiting for us, so it will be a long watch, most likely 3 months worth of watching. I hope that you all are ready for that thing." Rem, Ram, Emilia all nodded. Subaru looked at the group, then looked back at himself. He still has serious doubts with how to handle being the lord of the mansion, and the representative of the Emilia camp. _"Lugnica will be a windstorm after they discovered that Margave Roswaal is dead. Well, they don't have any proof he is gone. I don't even know I am going to lead. I'm only a 17 year old drop out kid from Japan. Kids my age aren't...why am I even thinking of that? It's not going to make a difference anyway. Bringing modern technology to the villagers around our domain will be a best chance."_ Tiffania and the others were looking at how Subaru seemed to be concentrating at something. "Subaru? What's wrong? If you tell us...I'm sure tha..." Subaru rubbed his nose and looked at Emilia. "Oh? Don't worry about it, I was just thinking about something. Mostly about my powers. I still have affinity with Yin magic, but I also gained affinity with water magic, although I haven't tested it yet. Edan said that my water magic is second to Ferris, but I'm not really sure about that. After what happened in the capital. I'm not going to use it until it's absolutely necessarily. I can't afford to be this reckless anymore, especially when I just took a massive leap in power just a few days ago." No one in the table said anything, but Emilia said something in a murmur that Subaru can't decipher.

Tiffania was thinking of that match that was going to happen after dinner. "Subaru-san! Most likely, you will have to get ready for your rematch against Theo." Subaru let out a small smirk. "Tiffania-san, of course I'll have to get ready. This time, I'll use my sklls to win!" He gave a thumbs up at Tiffania. Emilia let out a small sigh. "You're so silly, Subaru." The group continued to eat, finishing within the next thirty minutes. Over this time, they talked about the anime that they were about to watch. As usual, Emilia went back to her room to do her studies for the day, while Rem and Ram went back to the kitchen to clean things up. Subaru and the others had to wait an hour for the food to digest. Natsuki Subaru, the half-elf, turned to the others to talk about gaming. "Now that we are done eating, let's talk about gaming trends that are going on lately. Luctiana, how's Fortnite at the moment? Apex Legends?" Luctiana shook her head. The elves were at the conference room. "Fortnite is still going strong, while Apex Legends has lost momentum. Most likely, it's because the season pass sucks ass. No wonder they lost. Also, Overwatch has just started their anniversary event, so you might want to grind those levels, Subaru-sama. That is, when you have free time and don't need to do anything else." Subaru's face turn into to a pout. "What makes you think that I going waste to my time away in the fantasy world?" She merely scoffed. "Knowing you, I'm not gonna trust you on that." Theo was looking at the tech sites such as PCWorld and r/buildapcsales. "I've been looking through Reddit's buildapcsales site. Prices for computer parts have been dropping by a lot. Just a year ago, GPU prices were through the roof due to cryptocurrency." Subaru drew a blank from that. "What the fuck is a cryptocurrency?" Theo shook his head, at the fact that he forgot to tell Subaru about it. "My apologies. You were summoned from Japan in 2012. Cryptocurrency is electronic money that is valued per unit. coin for example, was going high for one unit. This cause GPUs to be high in demand, so the prices skyrocketed. This was in the year 2017 through 2018. Gamers were pretty pissed off. You would be the same too, Subaru." There was no reaction from Subaru, but for some reason, it annoyed him to hear people buying in bulk. "Well, good thing that's over with. Now, let's get prepared for our singles match! It's time." Subaru got out and began making his way to the tennis court. Luctiana smirked in excitement. _"This is gonna be a good match. I wonder who is going to win. Subaru-sama, the serve and volley player, or Theo, the counter puncher. Only one way to find out."_ Bidashal followed. _"Hmm, it's a 50-50, I must say. Subaru may not play as well as yesterday due to muscle fatigue, but the same could be said for Theo, Emilia's father. Not only that, but we will most likely be able to see the marvelous shot making that we saw yesterday."_

By now, all of the elves have gathered at the courts. Subaru has pulled out his black Wilson racquet and was doing a 5 minute warm up section with Theo. The scoreline/AI line judge was about to be turned on. Edan once again popped out of Subaru's hair. "Suba, do you want me to be the umpire of this match?" Subaru nodded at his fox familiar. "Please do Edan." Edan nodded and got on the umpire seat. "As usual, we are going to flip a coin to see who serves first for the match. Good luck to the both of you." Luctiana gave a coin to Subaru, which he flipped. It landed on the side with the Lugnican emblem, which meant that Theo was the one that is going to determine who serves first. Theo looked at Subaru. "All right, I'll be the one who will be serving." Subaru nodded and got to his position. Edan looked at the AI judge and the scorecard and turned them on with merely his cognition. "The match is about to began. Theo to serve. Ready. Play." Theo began his serve and hit one down the line at 135 MPH, which Subaru reacted to, only for the ball to go out. The next several points were followed by Theo hitting a second serve and Subaru hit a great return, forcing Theo to reach his racquet out. This then led to a smash put away by Subaru. Next, Theo followed up with a 130 MPH serve that Subaru flicked back, only for Theo to slice it. This caused Subaru to rush in to try to get the ball. He managed to reach it and put on on the side, only for Theo to fire a winning backhand down the line. It was 40-30 on Theo's serve. He tried to go for the side, only to result in a fault. What followed was a 35 shot rally that had everyone at their seats, with Theo eventually winning the point with a cross-court forehand. All of the elves roared. Both of them were playing so well that all of the games went to either 40-30 or deuce. Subaru with his serve and volley would try to position Theo off center, only for him to fire a inhuman passing shot. Both of them got break opportunities, three for Subaru at 5-4 at set point, and Theo at 5-6, when Subaru was on the brink of losing the set at 5-6. This forced a tiebreaker, which caused excitement to build up. Even Bidashal, who was not the type of elf to get all of that excited, was rushed with anticipation of who would win the set.

"Looks like a tiebreak is gonna decide this set. May the better player win." Bidashal said with his eyes closed. Going back to the match, it was neck and neck, with ridiculous passing shots and volleys, until Subaru made a double fault at 10 all. This gave Theo the set point. With that in mind, Theo fired off a first serve to the side that Subaru return, only for it to fly out. The elf at the stand roared as Theo took the set 7-6 (12-10). Even though Subaru tried to hide it, there was visible agitation on his face. _"Kuso! I was so close too. How could this happen!?"_ The next set was neck and neck as well. Unfortunately, the next set was not in Subaru's favor, as he lost his serve at 4-4. Theo was not letting up on his aggressive counter punching play style. He started out with two unreasonable first serve aces that Subaru could not reach in time. Theo then tried to serve down the T at 30-0, only for him to double fault. The next shot was Theo faulting again, which forced him to hit his second serve. Subaru easily pounced on it for a cross court backhand winner. Theo then hit a really hard first serve to Subaru that resulted in a weak return, setting up Theo to blast a forehand past Subaru. It was now match point. Theo once again serve a fault into the net. He serve a deep second serve into Subaru's body, which caused him to block it back. Another 40 shot rally ensured, with the winner begin Theo as he fired a cross court winner with his forehand as a result of Subaru volleying to the other corner. Edan announced the winner. "Game, set and match, Theo. Two sets to love. 7-6, 6-4." Subaru was not happy at this loss, but he knew better, so he walked up to Theo and shook hands. The match time was 2:13. Theo winked at Subaru. "See, told you? Don't underestimate me. I was one of the best elven players at tennis."

Subaru was still grumbling at his own loss to Theo. He shook his head and simply walked back towards the mansion. Tiffania, the naive half-elf, looked at Luctiana. "It look's like that Subaru-san is still fuming about his loss." Luctiana looked as he went in the mansion. "Can you blame him, Tiffania? No one likes to lose, period. You saw how much I raged in Fortnite. It's the same thing with physical sports. It can be extremely frustrating." Bidashal walked back towards the mansion as he looked at his clock. "Look's like its around 4 now. Subaru probably went back to the entertainment room to set up the anime for us. We should probably join him on the couch." They all followed Bidashal to the room, where Subaru had already placed his Dell G7 on the desk and plugged an HDMI connector to the TV. He then fiddled with the setting so that the 4K TV shows an output signal. When it showed, Subaru clapped his hands together. "All right! We are ready for action! Luctiana, please get Emilia-tan, Rem, and Ram to come here. If you are wondering about Beatrice, I'm going to leave her alone in the library." Luctiana nodded and went out to get the others. Subaru sprung in action and went to Firefox, where he went to 'animeultima'. The site checked his browser for a second, and it took him to the main page. Subaru typed in 'Sword Art Online' and went with the 2012 one. He went full screen so that it covered the entire TV. Just then, Rem, Ram, and Emilia arrived. They sat on the couch. Ram cleared her throat. "So Barusu, you have taken me here to show your 'anime' thing? You should be doing chores just like when Roswaal was around. Just because he's gone does not mean you can slack off." Subaru looked at Ram. "Wha-? I..I'm not slacking off at all! You see...I'm pretty busy myself!" Rem giggled. "Sister was just teasing you Subaru. We appreciate the new stuff you have given us to work with." Subaru shook his hands. "No! You should be thanking Theo. He's the one who came up with the idea. I just implemented it." Emilia looked at the screen. "Subaru. That is the thing we will be looking at? That TV 'metia' you called 'Sword Art Online'?" Subaru nodded. "That's the one you will be watching. It's nice to have a break every now and then." Theo was ready to go as well, along with Luctiana, Tiffania, and Bidashal. "Well? Are you ready to get started, Subaru-san?" Subaru nodded. "Let's get started then." He walked over and sat down with the others. The play button was pressed, and this marks the beginning of the anime watching for the Re: Zero crew. The first episode of Sword Art Online began to play.

* * *

 **Character Key**

Subaru (S) Emilia (E)

Rem (Re) Ram (Ra)

Tiffania (Tif) Luctiana (L)

Theo (T) Bidashal (B)

* * *

 ** _Episode 1: The World of Swords_**

 ** _I_ _ntro_**

Ra: Barusu, what is bizarre lettering in front of our faces? I have never seen it before.

E: I have never seen it as well.

S: That's called ARGUS. It's a fictional organization located in my world.

T: You'll find out more as we get through the show.

E: 2022? Numbers? And more glyphs I don't even know. Subaru, what does it mean? I can't read it.

S: Oh, that? It's in kanji. The number 2022 refers to the year. We use a system to keep track of the time. It says that humanity has finally found a way to create a complete virtual environment. It's amazing at what we we able to accomplish in the fictional world. I long for the same device in my world as well.

Re: Subaru-kun, I see a knight on some sort of land creature. Wait, what in the WORLD is that thing in the distance?

L: You'll find out soon enough, Rem-chan. That is going to become a very important thing in this anime.

* * *

 _ **The Official Release of SAO** _

T: Now that, is Japan right there. The roads. And those steel contraptions. That is Subaru's world.

E: Subaru's world? That there? But it seems that every last space is being occupied, just like in the capital.

Tif: That's the capital of Japan. Tokyo.

Ra: Barusu, what are they lining up for? And what's that thing on their backs in the first place?

S: Why, of course, they are waiting for the release of the new game, Sword Art Online.

B: Those buildings are made of material you have never seen before, I guess.

Re: I have never seen any building like that, Subaru-kun, let alone all of them side my side.

S: Humans in my world urbanized within the last 100 years. You'll get used to it eventually. Where I'm from, it's about two hours away.

E: Look at the line of people waiting! I um...have never seen people waiting for something like this. Not even at the capital market.

* * *

The anime mentioned that the people who waited in line in the front waited for three days. Emilia, Rem, and Ram looked at each other in confusion.

* * *

Ra: Who in their right mind would wait three days for a metia? Barusu, I can see your world is not very bright after all.

S: IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! It must have been a highly anticipated product that was releasing on that day. Look at how happy those people are. Every one is jumping on it.

Tif: We have seen it before, so we are going to have some sunrises for you. This is our rewatch.

S: Ah, now they are showing the man behind the game, Kayaba Akihiko. He'll be important for later. Keep an eye out for him, Emilia-tan!

E: All right, Subaru.

* * *

 ** _Diving into SAO_**

* * *

The scene switches to Kirito in his room, who is watching the stream on his computer.

* * *

E: Kirito right? That is his bedroom, and he's watching something on...that thing I don't even know what it is. There is three of them, along with a box to the right of him.

S: That is what is called a computer, Emilia-tan. He's watch it right now. Those three things are what called a 'screen'. You need them for the computer to be useful.

T: Subaru is right. Computers require an output device so that person can see what they are doing.

E: Eh? It sounds like his sister. I mean...Kirito's sister.

Re: That is a strange looking place to live in? Subaru-kun, did you even live in a home like this before you got here?

S: No, not exactly. I live in the more modern Japanese house design. This right here is the older one. They are pretty common around Japan. Oh, and as you can see, they are panning out of Kirito's house. Do you see those weird looking panels and pole with wires around them? That's a hybrid of electric power and solar power, which is power from the sun.

Ra: So Barusu does not need anymore more candles and laps, correct?

S: Right. What's even the point of using them when this can light up more places and be more widely available?

E: The trees, it seems to me that in 'Japan' it's in the middle of winter. And more unfamiliar structures that I don't even understand what it is used for.

T: That is pretty iconic of Japanese culture, that thing. If you go to Japan, you will see that everywhere. And it's all gone in seconds, that SAO game?

E: It sold out in seconds? That fast!? In Elior Forest, not even the elves traded that fast. Are you telling me that it's even faster than Roswaal?

T: Emilia, that's the power of the internet. With one click, you can buy anything instantly.

L: The year is 2022, in November 6th, smack in the beginning of the winter.

Tif: And now, Kirito is going to FullDive with the NerveGear.

E: Eh? That NerveGear is that helmet metia thing? And he connected that to some hole in the wall.

B: Yeah, that connects it to the internet. Here is comes now, the 'Link Start' to get into the VR world.

* * *

The Re: Zero crew got hit with a bunch of rainbow like particles flying at them, which made them stare at it. Emilia shook her head off.

* * *

E: Look at those noises. Is it trying to set up something? Wait, what is going on?

S: Kirito is going through the setup process. All of the five sense are on. Oh, and he selected the language to be Japanese. I'm going to translate the text. In other words, Kirito is a beta tester, so he is using that info for his character creation. 'Welcome to Sword Art Online'

Re: Blue lights. Is Kirito-kun going into that world? That...'virtual world'?

T: Yes, Rem-sama. He's going to the place that is known is the Town of Beginnings. This is where everyone starts off in the Sword Art Online world. From the looks of it, Kirito was the first one to get there. You can tell that he is really into this game. I was not surprised when I first watched it with my fellow elves.

B: And sure enough, everyone else appeared around Kirito. You can see how popular this type of game was. It was absolutely crazy.

* * *

The next scene was a montage of people chatting in towns, and market places. People of different looks were talking to each other.

* * *

E: I see shops, much like with Lugnica has in the capital. Puck would be amazed by this. I still don't understand how you can even make this?

S: The answer is simple, Emilia-tan. We call it science and technology. The fact is, that thing you see is no metia. It was all done with a bunch of researching efforts.

Ra: Research, Barusu? That's some really helpful insight into this 'FullDive' thing.

Tif: Um...you guys are quite a bit chatty. Maybe we should watch the scene unfold for a few moments, you see.

L: That's right! I know this is quite new to you guys, but lets settle down a bit.

E: I have not noted it before, but this city is huge! I think it's even bigger than Lugnica. Won't you say the same thing, Subaru?

S: I must agree as well. And it says that this is floor one of Aincad, that massive structure.

Re: What in the world is Kirito-kun doing? It seems like something is going on. Running?

T: Ah, there's the red guy with the bandanna on him. He is one of Kirito's best friends.

E: Eh? So he is...um...Klein-sama? Father? It seems to be his first time in this...other world of sorts.

T: That's right.

* * *

The next scene cuts to Klein getting clobbered by a boar with red eyes. As expected, Rem, Ram, and Emilia are taken aback.

* * *

E: Wha...what is a witchbeast doing there? Rem? Do you know?

Re: I'm terribly sorry, Emilia-sama. I can't not explain why those witchbeast-like creatures are there in the first place.

S: That's is not a witchbeast. Those red glowing eyes indicate it is a monster.

Ra: Don't tell me, did he just get hit in the...?

L: *giggles* He got hit right in the crouch area. Ha!

This caused Subaru, Theo, Tiffania, and even Bidashal to giggle a little as well for seeing Klein's misfortune. Kirito kept teaching Klein on Sword Skills. The Re:Zero crew saw Kirito use a Sword Skill with a rock. His hand let out a bright orange beam of light, and the rock struck the boar, reducing its HP.

E: Did he just threw a rock at a witchbeast? He must be a practitioner of magic of some kind, much like Roswaal.

S: That's not magic. It's a skill. You learn in through experience in the virtual world.

Klein then proceeded to slice the boar with his Sword Skill on the dagger, dropping its HP to zero and causing it to explode.

Ra: Barusu, explain this to me. How did he cause the witchbeast to explode? Klein-san sliced through it clean.

Tif: That's just part of the game, Ram-san. It's design that way so there isn't a gorefest on our hands.

E: Some more unusual stuff on the screen. I don't understand what it means.

L: As a result of defeating that monster, Klein gained some experience, along with some items and a currency called 'Col'.

E: Eh? 'Col' is the name of the currency in that world?T: Col is the SAO currency used for everything, much like Lugnican Coins.

Ra: Look at that celebration. It is very simular to one particular person in this room at the moment.

S: Oh come on! At least I don't do that out in the public!

Re: ! The Witchbeast respawned! Did they make it like that?

T: They made it like that Rem. There are pretty weak when compared to the other monsters.

Tif: That sunset is beautiful, even in the virtual world. It's complete immersion. Thank goodness for modern science for makeing it possible someday in the real world.

E: I also forgot to mention that there is a waterfall in this place as well. Puck would enjoy it very much right now, but he's inside the pendant.

T: SAO was also conducting a beta test with 1000 other players just to test out the game first.

E: To think that people on Subaru's homeworld would make something like this, like almost like the real thing. I'm still amazed on how real it is. There is no difference between that world that we see, and Subaru's, well...uh...Kirito's homeworld.

S: Kirito is saying how he felt more alive in that virtual world than the real world. I felt the same as well when I first came here. That was before I knew of the hardships that were occuring in Lugnica at the time. I'd go to Beatrice's libary and do some researching myself.

Tif: They are forming a friendship, both Kirito and Klein.

Re: Subaru-kun, you have quite a bit of friends you made, right?

S: Mmmhmmm, that's a given.

E: No...huh? Something seems not right. If they were to return from this...world to...Kirito's world, won't they have to do something?

L: Correct, they would have to log out of the game if they want to return to the real world. As you expect Emilia-sama, there is something off. No log out, no return to the real world. That's how it is.

E: I...Impossible. So they are trapped now?!

Tif: Y...Yes...Emilia-sama. I'm sorry about this. To see them helpless. I know you want to help them.

B: No annoucment at all for this 'bug'. Something is wrong. Sure enough, the bell tolls.

* * *

 _ **Trapped in SAO**_

* * *

E: F...Forced...teleportation?! And it's not only Kirito and Klein. It's everyone who is in this 'world' at the moment.

L: Things are about to turn real bad fast.

Re: What is that red creeping up over the entire sky? Something does not look right, Subaru-kun.

S: Something is about to go down, and I don't like the look of it.

Ra: W...Who is the person in that cloaked suit? It is cowardly to hide behind that thing.  
E: Kayaba Akihiko? He was..the creator of this world? What is he even planning to do?

Re: They can't get out of this world?! It's a 'feature' of this game?

B: I'm afraid things are turning bad as we speak. And to make matters worse, no one from the real world can remove the NerveGear.

E: 'Microwave'? Destroying brain and...ending your life?! No...no...is he talking about death?!

S: Several players have ignored the warning, with fatal consquences. 213 players.

E: Gone from...the real world?! In other words, dead?!

T: That socialpathic scum does not give a damn about anyone but himself. It's down right murder! He thinks that the VR world is the same as the real world. And there's no way to revive anyone. If their life drops to zero, they are dead for good.

Ra: Ba...Barusu, the only way to get out is to clear all 100 floors? Without being killed? T...This guy is crazy!

E: Look at that, everyone is getting rilled up, and they have a right to. Why? Why would he do such a thing? I...I...I can't...possibly understand.

S: I don't know, Emilia-tan, but Kirito knows that both him and Klein have to level up now to survive in this world. It is basically real life. They have to do what it takes.

E: Guild? What is a guild?

Tif: That would be a party that is formed. A group basically.

* * *

They watched as Kirito began to level up by killing monsters.

* * *

L: This ain't a game anymore, Emilia-sama, Rem-san, Ram-san. This is the real deal.

* * *

 _ **Intro of SAO  
**_

* * *

E: Kirito-san is really good at those sword skills. And so is that girl with the long hair. Is she a knight of sorts? She seems to be one with her sword.

S: Names are getting crossed out! And no one has cleared the first floor yet.

Re: Subaru-kun, does that mean they are really dead. I mean, permament death?

S: Yes, they have lost their lives, both in the real world and virtual world. It's disgusting how you can even think of doing this. Video games are ment to be enjoyed, not be a life or death situation! It still makes my blood boil even when I know what is going on. The next episode will give us an insight on how people are coping with the game.

B: It still makes me shutter how dangerous the situation is.

* * *

With that, the first SAO episode concluded. Emilia, Rem, and Ram were then discussing with the other elves about the episode. Emilia had a few questions. "So, Subaru, this 'NerveGear' thing can kill you by frying your brain? Subaru shook his head in disgust. "Yeah. He was the one that designed the NerveGear. And now, he turned it into a death game. It's a really messed up situation to be in. Even Crusch would be disgusted by that." Rem turned to Subaru. "Subaru-kun, does the NerveGear exist in your world?" Subaru scratched his head. "No such thing exists in my world. As I said before, this is fiction. However, it gives people the chance for it to become a reality. That has implmented the vision that one day, it can become possible." Ram looked at the screen. "Barusu, what abould the 10,000 players that are stuck in that world? That means 10,000 deaths if the worst case ccurs?"

Subaru balled his fists up at the completed disreguard for life. "Y...Yes. That's right, Ram. And those people who died will never see their family again, and he...he does not give a damn about it!" Just a few seconds later, Puck popped of Emilia's hair. "I was busy watching your 'anime' with Lia, Subaru. To be honest, I kinda enjoy it so far. I can't say the same for that guy in the story though. He's pretty heartless for trapping people like that. Lia would do something about that if he had the chance." Luctiana looked outside, then she looked back. "I'm pretty sure Emilia-sama would do something to help them, Puck. Would you freeze the gamemaster to death if you had to?" Puck countered. "I..won't be sure about that, Luctiana. Only if he threaterns my daughter, then he'll feel the wrath. I'm going to go back now to my pendant. Take care of Lia for me, Subaru!" With that, Puck went back into his crystal. Theo wagged his finger. "He's a pretty cute familiar. He kept you save all of these years, Emilia." Emilia nodded as she played with her silver hair. "This is a pretty interesting development of Kirito-san and Klein-san in this world. Subaru? Is there more?"

Subaru went to his Dell G7 laptop and clicked to the next episode of SAO. "From the title of it, it seems this will be the first episode of fighting, so prepeare yourselves." Both Rem, Ram, Emilia nodded and turned back to the screen. Bidashal had his head down. He was obviously thinking about something at the moment. "Seeing this people, innoncent people dragged into this situation is hard to watch. Lives are precious! They shouldn't be forced to particupate in the game. Well, let's begin.

The next episode of SAO began to play on the 4K TV.

* * *

 ** _Episode 2: Beater  
_**

 ** _Narration_**

E: A month has already passed. That quick. And to make things more dire, no one has even cleared the first floor.

Re: 2000 people dead? Only in the first month? This is horrible! Not even the Witch Cult did this much death in a short amount of time.

B: It's frightening what people can do with that level of development with the NerveGear. Seems that everyone has gotten used to it.

L: It's a town of sorts, that's for sure.

E: It looks like the same kind of village you would see around Lugnica. Um...much like the nearby villages surrounding Elior forest.

Ra: The music though, it's pretty catchy. Barusu, what is the name of this 'episode' you are talknig about?

S: The title is 'beater'. And it's not a good name to be called by. You'll find out. They are running a group meeting at the moment.

* * *

 ** _Group Meeting_**

Re: So that guy in the front of the half-arena of sorts. The one with the blue hair and light armor. He is the leader of this meeting, right?

T: Correct. He is the one leading it right now. And it seems our good friend Kirito joined in as well.

E: Diabel is the leaders name? And he declares his job as a knight?

Ra: Reminds me of a certain someone here who made a fool out of himself at the castle and had a nasty argument with Emilia-sama afterwards.

S: I would not like to be reminded of that again, please. That day of Julius giving me a massive beatdown. Never again. I would rather forget that.

Tif: And his party found the boss room at the top of the tower. Still, it will be far from easy. Any boss should be taken seriously, espically when it's a life or death situation. And this isn't the beta, meaning some things may have changed.

B: Our hero Kirito is quitely watching from the sides, as usual.

L: They are forming parties now. And Kirito is trying to find one. Lucky for him, there is someone nearby.

E: That girl in the hood. She seems to be all alone, like Kirito-san. She's...just standing there.

S: Much like Kirito, this girl stayed out of it. But Kirito is right. They can't beat a boss going by themselves. That would be foolish.

B: We now know her real name. Her name is Asuna.

S: And what's in the world is that guy doing, coming from nowhere to interrupt the meeting? Kibaou, huh?

E: Apologize for what? Some of them? Subaru, I don't understand.

S: I could say the same thing too. Wait? Apologize to the 2000 players?!

T: This guy is antagonizing the beta testers just because they vansished. This guy said they took the easy quest for themselves?! I don't buy that bullshit at all! So only they could get stronger? What a hypocrite. Instead of whinning and complaning about them, why don't you find the spot yourself? This guy is full of shit, honestly.

S: I do not like the way he acts one bit. And now look what he is doing, making the beta testers the bad people. And w...what?! This guy say they should give all the items and money they've horder. Entitled prick. Looks like Agil is gonna set this person straight.

E: He looks kind of beefed up and mencing. That, guide book of sorts was provided for free at the shop, meaning that everyone had equal access to it. It means that the...um...beta testers were the one that helped up made their book.

S: Right on the money. That's my Emilia-tan! EMT!

Ra: Barusu, you are going off the rails yet again. Just like you did before. And look at that guy, he got made and stomped his way to sit. A shameful man indeed.

L: Illfang the Kobald Lord, the first floor boss. And he has minions called Kobald Sentinels. Armed with the axe and buckler. Four HP bars. When it reaches red...

S: It goes to another phase?

T: Yep, another phase where it switches to another weapon. And different attack pattern as well. Subaru, your gaming intellent is still as good as ever.

* * *

 ** _Night_**

B: Reminds me of Tristain at night now, with all the lights all over the place.

E: You can even eat in the virtual world as well? Seems that way with Asuna-san. Why is she eating a stale piece of bread?

S: In a situation like this, you can't afford to be picky, Emilia-tan. And of course, Asuna scoots away from Kirito.

T: Looks like Kirto has a condiment container, with butter.

S: Such a buzzkill. Why did he not get mayonnaise?! That is the only thing I would put on. It goes with everything.

Tif: Subaru-san, you know that not everyone likes mayo, right? I mean, I understand on sandwiches, but soups. That is a no.

Ra: Barusu, Tiffania-sama is right. Not everyone is going to enjoy it like you did with Emilia-sama and Beatrice-sama.

Re: Asuna-sama reasoning is inspring though. She does not want to lose to this world, the virtual world. So, she could go back to the real one.

S: I'm glad she had that mindset. Instead of rotting away at the inn on the first floor. Just like me rotting away at my house in the real world back then...

E: Subaru...

T: Looks like you still have guilt over that. It's understandable.  
S: Of course I do. I mean, I should have went to school like other kids my age, and find people with the same interests as me.

* * *

 _ **Forest**_

E: More glyphs that I can't even read.

S: Ah, so sorry about that. Here, they are Japanese scripts. It said December 3, 2022. Twelve months in a year. They are on Floor 1, which is the Forest Field.

T: The leftovers are going to attack the Sentinels. The minions.

Tif: Switch? Looks like Asuna has never been in a party...well, a group before.

Ra: It's looks like it's going up to something, Barusu. Didn't they say the enemy was on the upper floor?

S: That's right, Ram. The 'boss' for this floor is at the top. Well, here comes their battle now.

* * *

There is a change in scene, to where the party for the raid is outside of the boss room.

* * *

 ** _Illfang the Kobold Lord_**

B: Here comes the boss fight. The room is completely dark.

Re: Is that the Kobold Lord at the end? It looks like it's sleeping at the moment, with its sword guided.

E: Did that thing just leaped from it's seat?! And it's carrying a shield as well!

S: That roar is quite mencing, and as expected, it has 4 health bars. And his minions are spawning in as well. They're charging in for the attack now. Let's see how it pans out.

Ra: Barusu, this is the first time seeing these guys fight. And Diab is giving out orders from the back on what to do.

S: Yeah. Speaking of which, Asuna's sword is moving so fast that Kirito can't see the tip of her blade. She is really that fast, isn't she?

T: Looks like the Kobold Lord is almost down. His health is low.

E: Wait..it just tossed out both the axe and the shield? Why? Wait a minute...this looks like a trap. What is Diabel doing, charging in carelessly?  
S: How would I know, Emilia-tan? I'm watching this with you right now.

E: It seems like...Diabel...is a 'beta tester'?! I can think of the only reason why he could go in right now. It seems he knows it's attacks more than the rest of the group does. He's about to finish it off with his attack.

L: Speaking of which, he is pulling out another weapon now.

S: Oh no, that's not a good sign! It's not a Talwar, which was in the beta! This is a No-Dachi in the actual game!

E: Subaru, what's wrong?

S: Diabel is making a fatal mistake! That weapon is not the same as the beta, meaning that its attack pattern is different. He needs to get out of there, now! If he gets hit, he'll get hit for good.

Re: Subaru-kun, why are you worrying? Diabel seems like he knows what he is doing.

S: No, Rem, you can't afford to lose HP in Sword Art Online. This might as well be the real world now.

T: I have a feeling things will turn south from here. It's not the same as the beta test!

L: He's charging in now! This might be bad.

* * *

Just as Luctiana said that, the Kobald Lord leaped in the air, zooming between the pillars and slaming it's No-Dachi into Diabel. This caused a red wound which went from his lower part of the chest to the upper leg. Emilia, Rem, and even Ram all winced. It then striked Diabel on the chest, sending him flying into the air. Emilia shook her head in disbelief. Subaru stomped his foot into the ground in frustration at seeing the leader getting swept aside.

* * *

S: Damn! That fucking idiot! He should have never done that! And now look what happened to him!

Re: ! That roar is scary, and look at its eyes, glowing red! Kirito can save Diabel, right Subaru-kun.

S: No. Look at his health bar. It's in the red. Unless he gets a healing potion, he'll be dead!

T: Subaru-sama, I don't think he wants it. I think he accepted his fate!

S: Accepeted his fate to die?! How can you even thnk of that?! I had Return By Death, and I lived each of my life to the fullest. How can Diabel even think of that? How? He has family back in the real world!

E: There's nothing we can do for him, Subaru. It, does not look like he is gonig to make it.

L: And all of that, for a last attack bonus rare item. It's certainly not worth trading in your life for that.

E: N..No...he's fading. No way...Diabel...shattered into pieces. He...he...just died.

Ra: It is unfortunate, Emilia-sama. Dibael, never abandoned the other players, even though he was a 'beta tester'.

* * *

 ** _Illfang the Kobold Lord - Part 2_**

S: Asuna and Kirito are going to avenge his death, I'm sure of it.

T: Their skills are quite good. Kirito telling her to switch out. And we finally get to see her long hair.

L: Kirito starting at her for a moment or so. I won't blame him. She's pretty cute. Much like how you stare at Emilia-sama, Subaru.

S: Aw, come on! Emilia-tan is pretty too. I do it sometimes.

E (blushing): S...Subaru...are you a pervert?

S: N...No! It's not...not like that!  
Ra: Kirito-kun's parrying skills are excellent against that monster.

E: No! Kirito-san got hit too! It looks like he's injured!

T: They're holding him off as we speak.

Tif: Here comes the backup from the others!

B: The Kobald Lord is weakened by Kirito's slash. One more hit, and it's going to be defeated!

E: Look at them, slashing the monster across its body! D...Did they win? The thing shattered into many piece just like a Diabel guy.

T: They did it! Subaru, they won! Kirito got the last attacking bonus as well!

S: He also got a Coat of Midnight as well. Ah crap, here we go again Kibaou with his crap again! Huh?! Did he really said you let Diabel die? Kirito saved your collective asses, and you are complaning?

L: He just made another rift, and now look at that! Kirito does not want to be with them.

Re:B...'Beater'? Subaru-kun, what kind of a title is that?

E: So Kirito got further than anyone during this supposed beta test. No wonder. Still, it's not fair to judge him like that! I...I know that very fact for myself...becuase I am...a silver haired half-elf.

S: Emilia...

Ra: I find it amusing that Asuna-sama couldn't figure out how Kirito knew her name.

E: Her giggle and laugh is just adorable!

B: Hmm, so if someone you trust joins a guild, don't turn them down? But Kirito is a solo player, and said that there are limits to what a solo player can do. Wonder why he said that in the first place.

S: And Kirito's just going to walk out of everyone. No wonder, since they are acting like asswipes.

* * *

And with that, the second episode of SAO was concluded. It was another time to discuss what happened. Subaru was the first to share his thoughts. "I liked this episode, except for that Kibaou guy. I think he's full of crap, honestly. What kind of person does he think he is? Such an ungratful prick." Ram nodded. "Barusu, your judgement of that Kibaou person could not be any more accurate. He speaks like a man that has no dignity whatsoever." Emilia played with her silver hair. "Subaru, I enjoyed the fighting and the scenes, but to actually see someone die? That is always hard for me as a spirit arts user. I wanted to help him. He...probaby left family behind in his real world, and that is just heartbreaking." Theo shook his head. "It's not their fault. Rather, that fault should be in the creator of this game. What a sick dude, running experiments by turning this into a death game. I won't be suprised if he was classfied as a socialpath out in the real world, because he acts like one."

Ram shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe how fast they were. "Barusu, it seems that the group were terrified of the monster. I mean, it seems once their leader was down, they held off until Asuna and Kirito took over. But that knucklehead named Kibaou really needs to get his facts straight, or else he is going to end up like Barusu after the fight against Julius." Subaru sighed. He didn't know what to counter with. "It's only natural that they will fear for their lives. You die, it's all over. Emilia-tan, would you try the NerveGear if it was a real thing in Lugnica?" Emilia though about her answer. "Subaru, I won't be able to do that. You saw what happened, right? 10,000 people are trapped in that thing, unable to return untill all of the floors are clear. It's too dangerous. I can't." Subaru looked at Luctiana. "You know, Kirito seems to be a different kind of person to me. He seems...well, kind of reserved and closed in. He does not talk unless he needs to, and he trys to avoid people." Theo looked at Subaru. "Some people are like that, Subaru-sama. You'll have some people who do not like chatting with others, so they go all alone in that aspect."

Rem looked at the screen. "Subaru-kun, what is Kirito going to do next? He just walked out of the place without Asuna." Emilia nodded as well. "I want to know the same thing Subaru. I mean, you don't give very clear answers sometimes, so any help will be appreciated." Subaru walked to his Dell G7 laptop to play the next episode. "I know much about it as you do, Emilia-tan. I mean, I know the light novel and such, but I'm little rusty in that aspects. The only way to find out is to go to the next episode, which will be the last one for the day." Emilia looked at the screen. Puck was inside of the crystal. _"So if the person dies in this 'game' they die for real. That is quite a scary thought, Lia."_ Emilia talked back to Puck. _"It's no joke you know. I mean, Subaru said that 'games' were meant for enjoyment."_

As Emilia gathered her thoughts, Subaru clicked on the next episode of Sword Art Online. It began to play, starting with a town at floor 11.

* * *

 ** _Episode 3: The Red-Nosed Reindeer_**

 ** _Moonlit Black Cats_**

T: So, it looks like our Kirito just joined a guild it seems.

S: It seems that way. Look at the floor they are on, floor 11 at Taft. By the way, it is now April 8, 2023, so another 3 months have passed.

E: Subaru, there is something that is on my mind? How are those people in the real world, being kept alive. Surely, there is something that is going on.

T: Emilia. Those people who are playing SAO at the moment are in a place call a hospital. Like in Lugnica, it is where doctors are at to make sure the people are getting their basic needs, such as food and water. Without food and water, you will die quickly, so they are getting their needs by liquid into the body.

E: Liquid...into the body? Like Ferris?

T: Not exactly. It's called an IV transfusion, which is a needle that punctures the veins. So everyone is being monitored as we speak.

L: They have to clear this game as soon as possible. I'm not sure how much longer their bodies can hold up.

S: I have the same feeling as well.

Ra: Sister, sister, you can tell that Kirisu is just as awkward as ever.

Re: He's kind of acts like he's out of the group though, like a disconnect.

S: 'Kirisu'?!

Ra: It's a nickname for that guy, Barusu. Do you have any objections to it?

S: N...not at all!

E: That voice is not very convincing, Subaru.  
T: Ah, Kirito lying about his level, while the others are around level 20 or so.

Tif: Wha...what?! Kirito is already level 40!? How in the blazes did he get up that fast Subaru-san?

S: You haven't played RPGS, Tiffania-san? All right, there are several places you can farm in certain games. When you can get a lot of XP in a certain spot, you will level up quickly. It makes sense that Kirito decided to use those XP spots. You need to be strong in order to survive the virtual world, you know.

E: Teso, a mace user. Some sort of...melee weapon? And the blue-haired girl, Sachi. She looks like one of the quieter ones, a soft-spoken girl.

L: They're from a single club in high school, a PC research club. I would like to be in one. I love computers!

Ra: That Sachi girl seems to have an interest in Kirisu.

S: What makes you think that, Ram?

Ra: Barusu, your eyes are getting rusty. It's obvious to anyone, look at her face.

E: Kirito...Kirito seems hesitant on joining them. Is it because he's a solo player?

S: No...I don't think that's it, Emilia-tan. There has to be something else.

* * *

 _ **Fighting in the Forest**_

T: Another month has passed, and they made it through floor twenty.

S: Sachi, she's afraid. I would be too. Death is a scary thing. Unlike me, she won't come back.

L: Kirito teaching them switch. Apparently, the top group made it through floor 28, according to the Argo newspaper.

Re: Subaru-kun, they have determination, like you. The top group, that is.

Tif: Kirito is leveling up quite fast. He's almost at level 50. Man, the other members are not even close to that.

S: Apparently, Kirito wants to keep his level a secret. He knows SAO better than anymore there, for sure.

E: Why won't he tell his level then? If that's the case, they could...

L: Emilia-sama, remember that part about beta testers and beaters? They'll proably kick him out if they found out. The stigma is probably still there.

Ra: 200,000 Col? That's a lot.

S: Yeah, enough to buy a house of sorts in that virtual world.

E: Sachi, she seems to be sad. She's looking down. She must have something on her mind right now.

B: Kirito on floor 28, and it is May 16 of 2023. Ah, there's Klein again, fighting.

Ra: Seems that Klein-san can tell that there is something that is still bothering Kirisu.

S: Keita has messaged Kirito, Sachi left and has not returned.

E: Where could she have done, Subaru? Do you have any possible ideas?  
S: Not sure. Kirito is going to find him. The game includes that feature to look for members of the same guild.

* * *

 _ **The Night Under the Bridge**_

Tif: There's Sachi again. Wait, what is she DOING down there by herself? She seems to be down about something.

S: She...she's thinking about running away from everything. Just like I did...when everything seem powerless. I know that feeling as well. Sachi is going through the same exact thoughts as I did back in the capital.

Re: Sachi is doing that exact thing, Subaru-kun. She's spilling her thoughts.

T: It is as I thought. Sachi wants to run away from everything. She's afraid to die, like you, Subaru-sama. In fact, she can't sleep lately?

S: But it's weird, you know? To sleep in the virtual world. Everyone is afraid of dying. Kirito is right. They laugh, cry, and live to the fullest in this virtual world.

B: To protect all of them, that's going to be quite difficult, you know.

Ra: That will be difficult for Kirisu. This is more dangerous than the mabeasts.

* * *

 ** _The Dungeon_**

S: Ketia is teleporting to the Town of Beginings? Why is he not helping the rest of the guild?

T: He must have been the surveyor of the dungeon. I don't have the slightest clue on why he won't lead them there.

L: Ketia is the leader, so he should be the one that is exploring with them. The other members of the Moonlit Cats don't know Kirito's level, but Kirito is right. Their usual hunting grounds would be better. Going into a dungeon is a much riskier investment. Who knows? If they came across a trap, then things could get bad.

S: Are you suggesting that they are going to fall right into a trap?! No, Luctiana-san. Are you even sure about that? They simply can't go right into a trap.

L: Watch me, Subaru-sama. I'll prove you wrong.

Tif: They found a secret room, with a treasure chest in the middle. Wait! Something is not right about it.

Re: Tiffania-san, what seems wrong about it? Now that I think about it, the chest seems out of place.

E: Subaru, there's something not right. The room is pretty big, and there's only one way out, through which they found the secret room.

S: Don't tell me...the room...IS A TRAP?!

* * *

As soon as Ducker opened the chest, an alarm was triggered. The room turned red, and the door that led to their escape shut as well. Monster began to spawn as well. Even Kirito said it was a trap.

* * *

L: Called it. I was right after all.

E: A...trap?! Who would put that in there in the first place?

S (pinches his forehead): Damnit! Stupid idiot who opened that chest. There was only one exit to the room! It should have been clear! I've been playing video games all of this time in my room back in Japan, and they didn't even know that?! The fact that the room is big, and there is only one chest with one opening should be a clear red flag! Emilia-tan, those type of rooms exist in video games all the time, you know. The problem is this is not a video game. It's life or death right now!

Tif: Oh crud, they can't use their teleport crystals now? They are in a world of hurt now.

B: Oh, for sure. It's a crystal nullfication area, meaning that cryatals won't work. They will have to fight their way out of there!

* * *

Both Emilia and Subaru winced as Ducker got picked to death, and he shattered into many pieces, deleting his avatar from the world, and from real-life as well.

* * *

E: NO! This can't be happening to them. N...no!

S: Damn! One person is already dead. This has gotten really bad.

L: Their situation looks bleak right now. At this rate, I won't be suprised if Kirito is the only one alive.

T: Another one died, Tetsuo was removed as well. No way. The Moonlit Black Cats are getting annihilated as we speak.

Ra: I hate to be so gloomy, but at this rate, Kirisu is the only who will be alive.

* * *

And therefore, as Kirito tried to reach for Sachi, she got struck in the back, killing her. She also shattered into many pieces.

* * *

S and E: Sachi! NO!

T: She didn't deserve to die like that. No one did.

E: Sachi. She'll never to back to Subaru's world ever again. Another funeral for another family. When will this senseless act stop? Will this madness end?

B: I'm not sure about when, Emilia-sama, but this is reality. One wrong judgmental call can cost you everything.

Tif: I wonder...how Kirito will cope with this. He's all alone once again.

* * *

 _ **Christmas Eve  
**_

S: Floor 49, huh? In the town of Myuhen, on Christmas Eve. 6 months after the Moonlight Cat's death.

E: That long, Subaru? Look at all of that snow that is falling. Puck can make the same thing too, but it will require a ton of mana.

Re: Subaru-kun? All of those members of the Moonlight Cats. All of them gone forever. This is just as bad as the Witch Cult targeting me and Emilia-sama.  
T: And Kirito, all alone again. That must have been a horrible experience.

Tif: For sure. He lost all of friends in a blink of an eye.

E: Infomation broker? So they do have people like that here as well.  
S: He must be a beta tester as well. And looks like another event boss will be there for Christmas.

B: So Kirito want to revive his dead teammates using that item from the event boss. Well, they're just rumors.

T: Jeez, that Ketia guy. Dude, your still using that beater nonsense? Where the hell were you at the time? At floor 1!

* * *

The Re:Zero crew watched as Ketia took a step up and threw himself out of Aincad, killing himself in the process. Subaru slammed his fists in anger at the couch.

* * *

S: T...T...That selfish twat! Did he even think about how his family will deal with this!? Instead of thinking things through, he used that idiotic beater term again and pinned the blame all on Kirito! Ketia was the damn leader, he should have directed them to grind for Col in the field. If that happened, the Moonlit Black Cats would be still around. What he did instead?! Went to floor one, and bought the house. His ignorance and complete lack of reguard for his friends showed here!

Ra: Indeed Barusu. Ketia-san was idotic, and cowered his way on floor 1, while one of the members went into that room of death and opened the chest.

E: Don't you think that Kirito is being too hard on himself?

T: My daughter, can you really blame him for that? He has a ton of guilt of seeing all of his friends die in front of him, and he was powerless to do anything about it.

Re: Ketia-kun, is around the same age as you, Subaru-kun.

S: Most likely. He was in a high school club, meaning that he's around the same age as me.

E: Kirito, must be looking for something important.

L: That's who Kirito is. Always trying to become stronger in the VR world.

* * *

 _ **Floor 35 - Forest of Wandering.**_

Tif: So, Kirito-san is doing this to try to get Sachi back.

S: Of course he would. But I have a sinking feeling about what is about to be revealed.

E: Subaru? What do you mean, a 'sinking feeling'?

T: Most likely, Kirito would find something out about the item.

L: Here we go again, Kirito encountering Klein.

Ra: Seems that Klein really wants Kirisu to be on their group. He has a point though. If they die here, it's over.

E: I wonder what is going to happen next?

S: I'm wondering that too...Emilia-tan!

B: I knew it. Of course the Holy Dragon Alliance wants the rare item as well. Klein being a bro as usual.

* * *

It then cuts to another scene with the Kirito fight against Nicholas, where it spawn from above and landed right in front of him.

* * *

 _ **Floor 35 - Forest of Wandering vs Nicholas**_

E: That is one scary looking creature.

S: Kirito is screaming. You know that Santa looking thinng is screwed.

E: Who's 'Santa', Subaru? I have never heard that before.

S: Ah, sorry about that. Santa is a person from legends in my homeland. Legends say that every Christmas, on December 25, he delivers gifts to kids all over the world.

E: Seems like a pretty nice person to meet. Um...father?

T: They're plenty of holidays over there in Subaru's world.

L: Oh look, Kirito already got the item. And he's throwing it to Klein, because he most likely read the item description already.

Tif: It can only be used in the first ten seconds on the deceased target. No wonder he is giving it to Klein.

B: After all, Kirito is a solo player. There is no reason for Kirito to keep an item like that.

S: Klein. I feel bad for the guy. Look at the tears coming from his face. This situation is pretty horrible.

T: We'll see what Kirito does next. I really don't know, but you can tell that he goes solo to avoid having people die besides him.

Ra: Indeed, Theo-san.

* * *

 ** _Sachi's Final Message  
_** Tif: This is so sad, with Sachi knowing that she'll probably die.

T: On top of that, she knew that Kirito would blame himself for that.

E:...

S (Trying to hold back tears): K..Kirito...I...sorry. I can't hold b..back anymore. This is too much to take.

There were tears about to leak from Subaru's eyes as Sachi sang a Christmas song for Kirito the year before. Even Subaru broke down.

E: Subaru...it's okay. I mean, he went through the same hardships as you. The feeling of being useless and powerless. I'm sorry if I didn't catch that earlier.

B: Even for me, this scene is hard to watch.

* * *

The Re:Zero crew watched as the last part of Sachi's message concluded. Rem and Ram were speechless at how sad the scene was, even for a stoic one like Ram.

* * *

Tiffania stood up. "That was probably the saddest episode so far. The Moonlit Black Cats. All of them perished." Subaru nodded in sorrow. "The dead don't return, Tiffania, especially in the real world. I was only the rare exception, but even that is questionable now, since Satella perished due to Theo. I guess, that will be the last episode for today. Rem, Ram, I think it's better if you both run errands in the mansion." Both of them nodded and shared their feedback on the episode. "This 'anime' is a good watch, Barusu, I hope you get to show me more of this tomorrow." Rem also agreed as well. "Subaru-kun, I want to watch more of this 'anime'. To see a story being brought to life is something that I have never dreamed of before. Your world can do this kind of stuff, right?" Subaru nodded. "There are more series of anime that we should watch, so stay tuned for that." Both of them nodded and left the room to clean the mansion. The only ones left are elves and half-elves. Theo pinched his head. "Still, that Ketia guy man. He was only thinking about himself, and not his family. That kind of got me agitated." Subaru shook his head. "That idiotic guy caused everyone in his group to perish, on top of that other idoitic guy who opened a chest in a obvious trap room. Kirito now has to bear all of that pain in him."

Bidashal looked at the screen. "Subaru, I was wondering one question. What do you think about the fact FullDive VR might become a reality someday? I mean, I can for sure see that being used in Japan and all over Earth. Do you see people using that kind of thing." Subaru replied with a clear nod. "Of course people are going to jump to it. Gamers like me back there would be all over this. To fully immerse yourself in that kind of thing, that would be nice." Emilia pouted a little bit. "Won't that be going back to be lazy, Subaru? You didn't want that, right?" Subaru was taken by surprise by that attack. "Emilia-tan, that's too cruel!" Luctiana crossed her legs. "Oh, there is something important as well. You have to make an announcement to the villagers reguarding the ownership of the mansion. Most likely, tomorrow?" Subaru had his face down. "There is a problem though. Do I stay in this form, or revert back to my human disguise?" Tiffania fiddled with her fingers. "Subaru-san, I think what you should do is stay in your human form. The villagers know you well, right? With those radio routines and such. They'll be more willing to listen to you."

Subaru was still troubled. Edan was speaking once again from inside Subaru's blue crystal. _"Suba, I think you should just follow your instincts and do what you feel is good for you."_ Subaru looked back up, then took out his OnePlus 7 Pro phone. He pulled out to check the time now. "It's around 5:30 now. Emilia-tan, why don't we take a walk around as a group?" Emilia played with her long silver hair. "All right, I'll go with you, Subaru." Subaru fist pumped. "All right, that's my EMT!" This cause Luctiana to cringe. "There you go again with that thing, Subaru. Goodness, even when you are a half-elf, your core does not change whatsoever." Subaru pouts. "Luctiana, that's quite a cruel thing to say." Theo crossed his arms. "I won't be sure about that, Subaru-sama." Subaru turned his head to Theo. "Now you too?! Come on!" He stormed out of the room, while the other elves were giggling, including Emilia-sama." Luctiana looked at where Subaru left. "I'm not sure if he has what it takes to become the overlord of this mansion. He's way too young for this. Knowing him, he's going to spread Earth technology everywhere in this domain." Theo let out a small smile. "That's Subaru for you. Come on, lets follow him, all of us." Emilia looked at her father. "Are you sure about this, father?" Theo nodded. "I'm sure, Emilia."

For the next several hours, the elves gathered and talked about the announcment at Arlam village. They all had dinner at the usual time at 7:00 PM in the evening. By that time, everyone had their regular meals, including Subaru, who had ramen for dinner. Both Rem and Ram joined in as well, with Rem playing on her OnePlus 6T phone. Theo casted a spell at Rem's phone, which took her by surprise. Her phone evolved into the OnePlus 7 Pro. Rem looked at Theo in suprise. "T..Theo-kun? My..um...smartphone got bigger." Theo gave a smirk. "Always gotta have the best of the best, Rem-san." Subaru gave a small sigh. _"Typical Theo with tech stuff."_ After dinner, Emilia went about talking with the lesser sprits, with Subaru tagging out with her. Theo and the others chatted in the room about tech and bring it to Lugnica, espically video game consoles. They all came to a consesus that literacy will be a problem in the villages, so most likely, they are going to build a smaller factory as a means to test out the product and make sure it's running to speed. Luctiana clenched her fists. "As usual, Subaru will have the final say in which products to release."

During that time, Subaru also studied more of the Lugnican language, and went about his night session like the other elves. He also went on his Dell G7 and played some League of Legends, which was quite stressful to Subaru, even if he was only a beginner. It was the fact that his team needs Subaru to play well. Around 10:00 PM, he said goodnight to Emilia, who went to bed for the night. Just the though of seeing her made Subaru turn red at the cheeks. He also checked the news on his computer for the damage report of the earthquake that struck Tokyo. Around 1,400 casualties, and billions of damage in yen. At a little before 11:00 PM, Subaru went to bed, looking at the day at a glance. He got everyone to watch the first three episodes of SAO, and even squeezed in a match. Tomorrow is going to be a pretty stress for day for Subaru, as the villagers are going to see Theo, Emilia's biological father for the first time, and the stigma will still be at large.

 _"Tomorrow is a big day for everyone. I have to do my absolute best for that. I can't mess up, for Emilia-tan's sake. For everyones sake here."_

With that last thought in mind, Subaru drifts into sleep as another day in the Natsuki Mansion draws to a close.


	13. Village Announcement and PUBG

_**Around 6:00 AM the next day**_

The alarm clock rang on Subaru's phone, bringing him back from the dreamy sleep. _"Ugh, I have to wake up at this time? Damnit. I really don't want to be up at this time. I would rather be back in bed. However, that announcement that we're all going to make an Arlam village. This is no small deal. It is an announcement of the new domain lord. The people in the village know me very well, but the others, not so much."_ Subaru merely stretched and looked at the color of the lantern in his room. It was a yellow lantern, indicating that it was now six in the morning. He rubbed his eyes, trying to wash way the sleepiness from his face. Subaru went to sit down at his desk first, turning on the Dell G7 again. He got out his Materializer as well, summoning a typical breakfast of miso soup, a single slice of egg, rice, and one cup of dark coffee. The dish appeared to him on the side as he went on the web again, looking at the news of the 8.0 earthquake that struck Tokyo. To Subaru's relief, it looks like humanitarian aid is coming from all over the world, including the United States of America. "Edan isn't awake yet, as usual. Damn contract. I wonder if the others have awaken yet." Subaru shook his head and got himself lost in the internet yet again. This time, he was looking up any upcoming anime for the year. Just then, as Subaru scratched his head, he heard a vibration sound come from his OnePlus 7. He looked to see who it was on the text message. Turns out it was Theo, Emilia's father.

 _ **Text Message**_

" _Good early morning, Subaru. We should probably get ready for the announcement at the village today. Tiffania, Luctiana, and Bidashal are getting ready for it as well. We are letting Emilia-sama sleep at the moment, as she is slow to wake up. Meet us at the dining room table around 15 minutes from now. This is going to be a big day for you. Being the new lord of the domain, you have many new responsibilities. Of course, you're not Roswaal, so do your own thing. I think that modernizing the entire domain with phones would be a good start, so we should start plans for a small factory underneath the mansion. Once we get the plans, it won't take long before we get things rolling. Well, you know what to do."_

Subaru shuts his phone off and went to the bathroom to do his usual routine. Brushing his teeth, washing his mouth, changing clothes to his modern looking ones, and making sure his long silver hair is styled. Finally, he went to check for his disguise watch, which was laying on the nightstand. He stared at it for quite a while. _"Should I wear it or not? I really need to be sure on this. No, I can't show them my half-elven form, my true new form. If I do, they'll most likely start shunning me because of Satella. Not that it matters anymore, but I am going to take this as a precaution."_ Subaru went on to grab the watch and place it on his left shoulder. He turned the watch, causing him to turn into the Natsuki Subaru with the tracksuit. He went back to his desk and turned off his Dell G7, shutting the screen down. He made sure all of the lights in his room were off, bar for the alarm clock he had. Subaru made his way down to the dining room while holding his OnePlus 7 phone, looking at his base in Boom Beach, getting 100 free stones in Puzzle and Dragons. Just recently, Subaru has gotten more addicted to gatcha games. For an otaku like him, trying not to get hooked was almost near impossible. Subaru didn't even bother, as he was on the Reddit looking for more gatcha games to play as he approached the dining room. Inside the room, Theo, Luctiana, Bidashal, and Tiffania were waiting for him. As usual, Luctiana was the first one to reply to him, having noticed that Subaru was on his phone once again.

"As usual, Subaru-sama is late to the meeting. I guess you aren't a morning person? Or perhaps you are slow to get ready because you were on the computer as well?" Luctiana scoffed at Subaru. That caused him to recoil back. "Hmph! I was eating a Japanese breakfast you know, while watching some stuff on my laptop. And just to let you know, it was about the earthquake in Japan. Aid is coming in for Japan. We can only hope that my home country has a speedy recovery from this disaster." Bidashal cleared his throat. "Subaru, I think we should move on with talking about what we are going to say to the villagers, after you are doing talking with us about what you did on your laptop." Subaru looked that the elves. "Okay, okay! Sorry about that. Jeez, can't I even catch a break from this lord stuff? I'm not like Roswaal, so don't expect me to act like a lord at all. Just a 17 year old from Japan, okay? Anyways, I really don't know what we are going to tell them. That Roswaal died?! How are they going to react to that? I knew them better than anyone, they are going to freak out for sure! Theo, did you even think through that? By offing Roswaal when we got here, you created a power vacuum." Theo shook his head, hard. "I had no choice, Subaru-sama. That clown needed to go. He was no good to Emilia's future. As a father, I can't allow someone like him to be pulling the strings with my daughter." Subaru closed his eyes. "Fair enough. What about Rem and Ram? Will they be attending as well?" Bidashal stepped in. "Subaru, they won't be attending the announcement. It'll be just the four of us, and you at that village."

Subaru scratched his head. "Err….I'm really thinking about showing something to the villagers. To be more specific, it's where I came from. Also, I want to explain to them what I have over on the other side." Theo was thinking about it as well. "I think it'll be best if I do the explaining for that. I think I'll communicate better with the pe…." Subaru shook his head. "But you're a silver haired elf! They'll know right away that you are Emilia's father, and they will turn you off." Theo gave Subaru a small smile. "Remember that I can use Yang magic and disguise myself. That won't be a problem for me." He turned to Bidashal. He wanted to up the ante a bit. "Bidashal, I think we should use the Materializer to show case Subaru's Earth. It'll be way more believable if they can actually see the damn place. We are going to show them two places. Tokyo, and New York City, to emphasize the point that Subaru comes from a place and time period where technology is rampant." Bidashal agreed. "So most likely, we will probably need a projector to showcase Planet Earth. That won't be an issue with the Materializer. Although there is going to be another problem. The people haven't seen anyone like us, elves like us. We got transported to another world, just like Subaru-sama when he was teleported at the Mini Stop station." Theo crossed his legs and took out his phone. "Most likely, Arlam village is going to be on edge. The Witch Cult is feared across Lugnica, as they are unpredictable and can appear anywhere in sight. Well, we all know what happened to the Witch Cult that was after my daughter." Luctiana had a big smirk on her face. On the inside, she was laughing as she recalled the SAMs utterly destroying the hideout.

"That was one of the most glorious days of my life, seeing the Witch Cult get annihilated by that. By the time the projectiles reached them, they were all gone before they could even react to us. It was a massacre. I enjoyed seeing them get wiped out of the face of Lugnica." Luctiana huffed, proud of what the group had accomplished over the past several days. Subaru, still uneasy about making the announcement to the villagers, shook his head. "Theo-san, I'm not sure about this. I'm not even sure if I can even hold up to being the lord of this domain, I think we should find a role for each of you. After making a fool out of myself back at the castle, there's no way I am going to act as elegant as Roswaal. Being the ambassador of this camp is out of the question." Tiffania fiddled with her fingers and her Note 9. "You have a point there, Subaru-san. Now, tell us what your plan is for us to do?" Subaru looked down at the ground as he was trying to assign the roles. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Subaru got up and looked at everyone. He started to spout his cringe worthy meme lines again. Luctiana's face immediately frowned. "Oh no, here we go again with this. Subaru making a fool out of himself again." Subaru had a wide smirk on his face. "Today, you all are going to get roles as part of the Emilia-tan camp! First to get those roles are Tiffania and Luctiana. The half-elf and the elf from Tristain." Luctiana got nervous. "It better not be a boring job to do!" Subaru continued. "Both of you will be assigned as supervisors in modern technology. In other words, you will be the ones responsible for trying to find new things to introduce to the mansion, to the village, and everyone in our domain." Luctiana was excited. That means she and Tiffania will be working with introducing things from Subaru's world, which was something that the elf wanted to do all of this time. After all, Luctiana loved phones, video games, and computers that came from Saito's world. "That's it! More modern technology! We need to spread that over here. Tiffania took a quick look at her Note 9 before looking at Subaru, satisfied with her job. Theo was ecstatic as well. "If we want to bring modern technology, the best way is to bring it at a slow rate, like back in our world. People here are going to get lost quickly if there are introduced to new stuff quickly. Also, I would also like to point out the fact that literacy is going to be a problem. Don't worry about that though, the Materalizer that I have can analyze any language and create an OS based on that language. I'll have to somehow get the entire Lugnican alphabet and translate all of the Japanese to that. Making a new language on the Android phone is going to take months at least before a prototype is released." Subaru sighed. "If is going to take a few months to make it as glitch-free as possible, that would be fine by me. Theo, you will be assigned as the technological innovator and the person overseeing all modern technology that gets introduced to this domain. He simply shrugged. "Of course I would get something like this. After all, technology brought your world to where it is today. It's time for my world to play catch up too." Subaru had a small smile on his face. It was around 7:00 AM at the moment. "You will be assigned the ambassador of Emilia-tan's domain, along with Bidashal. I want to make sure that you can both handle that, right? You have any experience?" Bidashal replied within a matter of seconds. "Of course I do, Subaru-kun. Back in my world, in Nephthys, both I and my niece Luctiana were into research. More specifically, researching humans. So speaking out to others is a thing that we have to be good at. Having a lack of contact over there is a big taboo."

Subaru's eyes started at Bidashal. "Your elves in your world were researching humans? But why?" Bidashal shook his head. "Remember at the time, there was a rift between the humans and the elves. So naturally, we want to get to know them better. Most of the elves in my world deemed humans as inferior. That is, until Saito came into the picture to show us how twisted and toxic that mindset was. Funny thing is, over here, it's the complete opposite. Elves are hated, with half-elves getting the most hate, due to the Witch. I'm pretty sure you know about that first hand, Subaru-kun." This triggered flashbacks to the Royal Capital where Emilia was getting talked down by the Wise Council. Back then, Subaru's emotions got the better of him, causing him to have a disastrous debut there. Subaru shook his head quickly to get his mind back to the present. "I really don't want to be reminded of that incident. That was one of the worst days of my life. I will never, ever forget that one day. Should have stayed at the inn with Rem instead of having the afterthought of a deluded isekai protagonist who is the hero." Luctiana called Subaru out again for his own self-deprecation. "There you go again, thinking that you are worthless as a human being. Sometimes, I think you have one of the worst self-esteem mindsets that I have ever seen. It's almost as bad has Shinji." Subaru was confused. "Shinji? Who is that person? If I am going to guess, it's from an anime that is way before my time. Most likely, around the 1990s." Theo remembered watching the anime. "It's Evangelion from 1995. You were most likely still a child back then, but it was well received. If you want to watch it with us again, you are more than welcome." Subaru crossed his arms. "You are talking about that mecha anime, right? I didn't really get into it when I was back in Japan. However, I heard that it had some pretty dark scenes and themes. Oh! Seems like an exciting one for sure! I'm going to check it out some time in the future! That's because of the following." Subaru got up and began to spin in one place, finishing with his father's meme pointing pose. "Anime is awesome! And all your anime lovers and soon to be otakus in Lugnica will discover what is to come!"

Luctiana gave a loud sigh and crossed her arms as she looked down. "Look guys, I think we got to practice for that Arlam speech. Our new lord, Subaru-sama, is going to make a fool of himself out there with some cringe lines of his own." Subaru felt his fist get tense a bit. "Oh come on. It's like you already assumed that I am going to act like that in front of the people. What am I, Mr. Kenichi to you?!" Bidashal shook his head. "That's enough, both of you. Now, let's head to the karaoke room to rehearse the speech, shall we?" With reluctance, both Subaru and Luctiana dropped the subject. Theo nodded and was the first one to get up. "Ah, just try to do your best, Subaru-sama. I mean, just…be yourself." Subaru huffed and followed Theo. By now, they were all in the same room. Tiffania tapped her foot. "Um…shall we get started, Suabru-san? After all, it's your speech. The villagers know you better than any of us. Also, I am kind of worried on how they are going to view us." Subaru looked outside at the blue sky. "Leave it to me. It won't be a problem for you, Tiffania-san. Same goes with you guys as well." Theo merely walked and began to set up the various projectors that will be used for the speech. It took 15 minutes to set everything up. Bidashal went over to make the final checks, and turned to Subaru. "All equipment are ready for operation. Give the go ahead, Subaru-sama, when you're ready. This is our first rendition of the speech, so just make up something, I guess for the villagers. What is it going to be?"

Subaru played with his hair, turning to the mic for the first run through of the speech. "Hello everyone. It's been a while since you have seen me. I have several announcements to make. Many of you may be wonder what I was doing against the past couple of days. I have brought three people to help us out. They are: Theo, Luctiana, Bidashal, and Tiffania. Without further ado, the first area of concern is the Royal Election. The Witch Cult, 4 days ago, was planning an attack on this domain after the Royal Election began. Luctiana, explain to them what happened." Luctiana went on the projector computer and displayed a graphic of the Witch Cult's hideout. There were 100 red dots, in a holographic display. "What you are seeing in front of you is the Witch Cult members. Those red dots represent the members in the hideout cave near the village. They were about to attack within a day or two." Subaru then stepped in. "Ah yes, we did shut them down quickly, while you all were asleep, that is. One of them is Sloth, one of the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins, as you all may know. He's dead too, so you don't have to worry. " A few moments passed as Subaru tried to get his thoughts together. "There is also big news as well. Roswaal, will no longer be the lord of his domain. He has gone missing. So instead, I will be the one taking the place of him as the lord of this domain. I would also like to point out some facts you will not know about me, and you may look at me as delusional and crazy, but please hear me out."

Subaru began pacing around the raised stage platform from one end to the other, trying to mask his nervousness, even in front of an empty audience. "The previous lord of this mansion, Roswaal L. Matters, is not who he seems. Theo will explain the full details behind this. The silver haired elf look from side to side, as if the entire village was looking at him. "I know you are fearful of the Witch Cult causing more harm here. I know that you are all frightened! But, this revelation is important. Roswaal L. Matters, the previous lord, is actually Roswaal A. Matters. He has the Gospel, which reads the future." Luctiana crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure that the village is going to get thrown into chaos. We have to make sure that they stay calm." Theo closed his eyes. "I am also expecting a reaction from the villagers. Something like that, Luctiana. There is a saying on Earth, `The truth hurts`. That can't be any truer now." Theo turned again to resume his speech. "Not only that, but we have also discovered his treachery!" Theo controlled the projector and showed a picture of Roswaal. "Roswaal was the one that was responsible for the Mabeast attack around a month ago. He was the one that orchestrated the whole thing, because his Gospel told him that it would be solve by Subaru." Theo looked on with a commanding look. Tiffania on the other hand was timid. "Don't you think by saying that, it'll scare the villagers? The people are not like us, Theo-san." Theo gave a loud sigh. "I have to do this, Tiffania. They deserve to know the truth." The rehearsal speech kept on going. "And the worst of it, is that Roswaal left you all to die to the Witch Cult! According to his Gospel, it said that Subaru will be the one to save the village. If Subaru-sama didn't follow the Gospel, he'll leave you all to perish. All so that he could find a way to wake up the Witch of Greed, Echidna!" Theo clenched his fists and his voice shifted to an angry tone. "Are you contempt with living under a lord like that?! Living under someone who only cares about getting the person he wants, a Witch?! Not giving a damn about his own domain and the complete disregard for human life. I bet you all don't want to have that!" Bidashal stepped up. It was his turn. "Theo decided that the best way to solve this was to purge Roswaal. In other words, he's no longer with us. So from this point forward, Subaru will be endorsing the half-elf. After all, with his morals and ideas, he is not even from Lugnica, or any of the four countries in this place." Subaru stood up, practicing to tell the full truth. "That's right! Remember that time when I told you all about New York? This is where New York is located. Theo, take it away and explain in this rehearsal!" He went to the projector and clicked on Earth, with New York in another window. With a nod from Subaru, Theo went to explain Subaru's place.

"Where Subaru is from, is from a place called Earth. It's a spherical shaped place where all life, as Subaru knows it. You guys are one of the first ones to hear where Subaru comes from, truly. As a demonstration, I'll show what New York is. As you can see here, New York is a capital from a country known as the United States of America, one of the superpowers from Subaru's place. It's a huge city, with well over 10 million people. Lugnica's capital pales in comparison to this place. However, I would like to let you know that Subaru does not originate from this country. He originates from an island nation in a place called Japan. Subaru, please show us your home country on the projector." The disguised half-elf changed the display image to Japan, along with its flag. In another tab, there was Tokyo. Right next to that, there was a tab on Hokkaido. Theo cleared his throat. "This is Japan, Subaru's home country. At a population of 130 million inhabitants, it makes Lugnica look puny. The capital, known as Tokyo, has well over 10 million as well. It's a well-developed country. Natsuki Subaru originated from the northern part of Japan known as Hokkaido. We know what lies over there, because we came from a place named the Kingdom of Tristain, where Japanese values and metias have already influenced our kingdom. Subaru, let's have you practice telling about life in Japan, on Earth. I bet the people that know you will love to be interested in your past life, before you came here."

Subaru nodded and replaced Theo's spot. "Earth is a peaceful place to live. Only humans and animals live there. I came from a place that contains no magic. No mana in the atmosphere. There is no Witch Cult. Our society priories progress through breakthroughs in metias, and equality for all regardless of race. Emilia-tan, that half-elf in the mansion, deserves a shot. I hope you give her a chance to display her best qualities. Regardless of the woman in the mansion. Anyways, so life over there in Japan was peaceful. You know, kids over there are way more pampered lives than here, by a long shot. We have metias that will you guys can only dream of having. Those metias that have come into effect play a big role in everything that we do in our daily lives. For example, if I want to know what the weather will be like tomorrow, we have metias over there that tell you that instantly. Same thing for getting information or news of occurring events. We can get that instantly through those things from my hometown. Japan, my homeland, also has things that you can do when you want to kill time. I'm pretty sure that your lives are pretty stressful as of late, so having things to do for entertainment would be of boon to all of you. I'm going to make your daily lives a little bit livelier. Bidashal and Tiffania will explain the plans that we have for the domain."

With that, Subaru stepped down from the mock rehearsal, as Tiffania and Bidashal walked onto the main stage. Tiffania looked around, pretending that the villagers are looking at her. She pulled out her Note 9, and showed it to the public. "Subaru-san, if you all recall, brought over mayonnaise from his homeland, no…um….Japan." Theo looked at Subaru. "Please let me ask you something, Subaru-sama. Are you that obsessed with mayo? Eating and consuming it at every opportunity?! In our world, we found out that you are a mayo lover. Naturally, you want to put mayo on everything. You can't be serious, right?" Subaru's face turned into a pout. "Do you have a problem with a mayo lover like me?! Trust me, I put mayo on everything that I eat." That snarky remark from Subaru caused Theo to shutter. Thoughts began to surge in Theo's mind. Mayo in pizza. Mayo in desert. Mayo in drinks. He tried to get those thoughts out of his mind, but to no avail. "Subaru, you have a really interesting…..`favorite` condiment. Perhaps a little bit too much. Did….you put mayo in desert? And in soup? No, that's impossible." That only caused Subaru to replay back, defending his favorite condiment. "Of course, Theo, I always put it on everything, including desert, soups. Heck, I had my own personal bottles that I slurped mayonnaise straight from the bottle after a bath. We called it, Mayo-chuchu, a daily occurrence." That was when, something inside Theo snapped. He had a deadpan look at Subaru in disapproval at his confession. Then, his voice raised up "Subaru…... _ **ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?**_ Who the hell puts mayo in desert or soups? You don't do that! And slurping mayo from a bottle after a bath?! Augh! That's just way overboard! I swear, putting mayo in soups and deserts is just a plain enigma. And don't tell me you eat gyoza with mayo too! You eat that with soy sause or wasabi, dimwit! That is such a mismatch. Jeez, and I thought Luctiana's addiction with Fortnite was crazy. But this here takes the cake for sure. I still can't believe that, Subaru. What? Does the entire Natsuki family have an obsession with mayo? It sounds like it's not only you who loves that thing." Theo crossed his arms, in disbelief at the degree of a Mayo Lover that Natsuki Subaru was.

Subaru was annoyed. "The way you say it makes it like you have a problem with what I like! And somehow, you knew that my family had a love for that mayo, so don't try to downplay it! I had around 770 bottles, my father on the other hand has 7700 bottles. It is here to stay in this domain Theo, whenever you like it or not. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of soon to be mayo lovers in this world." Tiffania ignored them and went on with her practice. "This here is called the metia, known as a phone. To be exact, this is a higher rarity version of the phone known as the smartphone. It is common place in Subaru's world. People there have been using these as a part of their daily lives, and now, we are going to make it a part of your lives. You won't miss not having these. To demonstrate, I'm going to let Subaru demonstrate the capabilities of this metia." Subaru crumpled to the ground and beg. "Tiffania! You are putting me on the spotlight AGAIN! This is too cruel!" Tiffania widened her eyes. "Ugh, Subaru-sama. You're the one that is most knowledgeable about Japan, so why don't you do it?!" Subaru gruntled, and raised a finger to Tiffania. He had something on his mind, something that he wanted to do first. Subaru whipped out his OnePlus 7 Pro and downloaded PUBG Mobile to his phone. "So, Tiffania-sama, I heard that PUBG Mobile is the top grossing app on Android. I just downloaded another game to kill time. Feel free to play with me when we both have the time." Subaru gave Tiffania a smile. She was just as happy as ever, having another friend to play alongside her. Luctiana on the other hand overheard the conversation. "Subaru, so you have finally joined the battle royale scene. About damn time too. We're all waiting for you, including Theo." The disguised half-elf stretched his arms and legs. "I've been playing single player games for way too long back in my own world, so it's about time for me to transition to multiplayer." Bidashal was watching the rehearsal of the speech. _"Everyone is quite distracted at the moment. We can't afford to be like this in front of the villagers."_ He looked at the others. "I think we should resume talking about our speech for the village." Subaru played with his silver hair again. He was fiddling with the reaction that the villagers will have. "Ahem, sorry about getting off track. This will most likely require a demonstration of the abilities of our metia, such as playing video games, or getting information instantly from the internet. I know it's going to be hard explaining the concept to the villagers." With that, they concluded the practice session. Theo suggested that they do one more, this time in a more serious matter, and spend the next couple of hours refining their speech and getting straight to the point. This time, Subaru let the leader of the speech go to Bidashal and Theo. It was almost time for them to do the real thing. At around 9:30 AM, they prepared to go to the village. Subaru and the entire Zero no Tsukaima crew were ready to deliver their speech.

 _ **The speech**_

Subaru went on to the village to gather all the villagers, while Theo, Luctiana, Bidashal, and Tiffania followed suit. To avoid causing a commotion at the village, Theo placed on his mask disguise. The others didn't even bother. At 10:00 AM, everyone in the village was at the center. Theo and Bidashal sets up the screen for everyone to see, which caused some of them to murmur as to what was going on. "Who are they? Why are they elves in this domain? I have never seen anything like them." Another voice also was curious as well. "A metia of sorts? Subaru-sama is planning something here for sure." With that, Subaru began the speech, mostly about the Witch Cult, as practiced. However, the moment Subaru talked about an attack in the Witch Cult, the man with the red headband immediately objected. "Don't try to fool us! You are acting calm, but the villagers are frightened. We feared that the Witch Cult would be planning an attack around this place! On top of that, you bring in elves!" The place was getting more and more chaotic. Another villager questioned why the Witch Cult would attack. "Those Witch Cult people. Why would they even bother with a remote village like this?" Then, one of them sets Theo off, and also angers Subaru as well. It was the male with the orange hair and eyes, a teen. "Why? It's because of that damn half elf! Look at those dots, which are the Witch Cult members. Over 100 of them in that damn cave! You want to know why, it is because of that damn half-devil in our domain!" Subaru's fist balled up in anger, while Theo has reached well passed his limit as a parent. As to be expected for the father of the half-elf Emilia, defending his daughter is a given. His voice became more menacing.

"You, boy. You dare to say that in front of the relative of that half-elf? I'm going to show you, who I really am." The boy recoiled back. "Y…You! N…no. By any chance, are you…" Theo took off his mask, revealing his silver hair and purple eyes with his 6'1 height. What Subaru heard was loud gasps from the villagers, realizing who Theo truly was. Loud murmurs emitted from the crowd. Tiffania could hear it too, the surprise and fear of who the elf really was. "It's the father of the half-devil! The father of the Witch!" Theo snapped at the villagers. "ENOUGH! I had lost my daughter who is now in the mansion. 100 years ago, which I still remember. I never forgot her birth I had with my wife, and tried to find a way to see her again. I was separated from her. It was devastating. And now that I am here, this is what I hear?! People like you antagonizing my daughter without knowing her as a person!? She went through hell in Elior Forest, and everyone that she knew was wiped out. I'll be honest, aren't you using her as a scapegoat because she looks like Satella?! Aren't you all being hypocritical! If the Jealous Witch was a human, you all won't be in this village. And the kingdom would have been ruled by demi-humans instead. Am I wrong in that regard?" The villagers looked at Theo in silence, shocked at the statement that he had made just a couple of seconds ago. They were stull Even Subaru, someone who would get riled up at the moment his emotions get the better of him, was speechless.

However, Theo wanted to get the approval of the villagers, and not let them shun him like they did with Emilia ever since word got out that the lord Roswaal was bringing a half-elf to this domain. "I know that the history of the Witch can't be overlooked. Rather, I want you all to give my daughter a chance to prove to you all that she's not someone to be feared. I wish for all of you judge her not by her race or her looks, but her actions! These values were long introduced in Subaru's hometown. That's all I have to say. Now, since you all may be wondering what happened to Roswaal, the lord of this domain. I am going t…." One of the villagers shouted. "Even if you're right, why should we trust you? You made a fair point about that half-elf in the mansion, but that doesn't mean we are going to change our viewpoints about her!" Theo grunted. "You don't have to. What you make of that is up to you. Now, speaking of Roswaal, there are some nasty secrets that he has hid from all of you." As expected, the villagers began to speculate, and become more unrest. Tiffania was the one that turned the projector so that it will showed the mabeast that attacked the village about 3 weeks ago. "Roswaal L Matters, your lord, is not who he seems. He has been body snatching his decedents. His real name is Roswaal A Matters, and he has a Gospel." One of the villagers was bamboozled. "Gospel? As in that book? I heard that only a Witch of the Seven Sins would have something like that? Our lord has been hiding that from us?!" Theo nodded. "It gets worse. That Gospel can generate outline of the future. So Roswaal knew that the Mabeast attack would occur, yet he didn't do anything about it. I'm pretty sure you all know how powerful he is. By waiting until the very last minute, he was endangering everyone here. Do you want to live under someone like that?" The murmurs began to cause the village to go into an uproar, again. One of the villagers realized something. "Don't you all see? Even though Theo-sama is the father of the half-elf, he has a point. Haven't you all wonder why our lord didn't come immediately come to assist us?!"

All of the villagers looked the projector that showed the attack on the village. Tiffania, being the half-elf that she is, showed a scene from the Re: Zero anime, where the village was attacked, and Roswaal stepped in Episode 12. "So it was true! That metia thing shows our lord coming in at the last moment, when he knew all along that this attack will happen! I have never felt so betrayed by that scum!" The entire Arlam village population nodded in agreement. Theo was starting to get the villagers to be disgruntled with the former lord. He had a serious expression on his face. "And that means Roswaal knew about the Witch Cult attack, so he was simply testing Subaru! The boy who was doing radio calisthenics and made mayo for you guys! I'm sure you are all confused, but here's the gist of it. Roswaal basically left all of you to die to the Witch Cult because of his damn Gospel saying that Subaru will save you all. That means, a deviation from the Gospel will mean the doom of all of you. And all of this because he want to bring back his love, the Witch of Greed! And also killing the dragon of Lugnica!" The entire village was absolutely speechless at his revaluation. The same teen boy from earlier felt massive anger. "That's impossible! One of the most powerful mages in Lugnica! Body stealing his decedents! Our lord doing something like this, thinking about resurrecting one of the Witches, and on top of that, leaving us to die, and planning to kill the Dragon which Lugnica made a contact with a long time ago! Why are we even living under the lord right now? I say we all should get the hell o…." Theo immediately soothed that boy's frustration at what is being revealed.

"You don't have to worry about that, boy. We have already wiped out the Witch Cult, and have already taken care of Roswaal. Long story short, Roswaal will never be returning here. It's for the best." Immediately, Subaru whispered to Theo as the commotion got louder. _"_ Theo, the villagers seem to be uneasy right now when you said that. Please be careful on the words that come from your mouth." Theo placed a hand on Subaru's back. "Don't worry about me, I got this." Theo turned to the audience.

"I had to do what was the right thing to do, so I killed the Margave." This caused the people of Arlam village to blow up into another uproar. "WHAT?! You killed the lord, who is one of Lugnica's most powerful mages. I don't believe you, Theo-sama. How did you even do something like that?!" Theo shook his head. "I had to use a powerful item from my place to do it. I didn't want to, but he left me with no choice." Another villager voiced her concern. "Theo, this brings up yet another problem. This domain has no lord now. Who is going to replace him? Everything is going to be thrown off balance!" Arlam's people were ruminating with the fact that the domain has no lord now. People had the same thoughts as the woman. Bidashal then stepped up to the spotlight. "Please, you don't to need to be worried about the new lord. The one….replacing him is right in front of you at the moment. He's 17 years old." The villagers looked at each other. Petra, one of the older kids, guessed who it was. "Subaru? He's the one you are talking about?" Bidashal nodded. "Yes. He's the one that will be taking over as the lord of the domain. From this point forward, the domain will no longer be known as the Matters Domain. It will be named the Natsuki Domain! Now, I'll let Subaru explain the details here." Everyone stared at Subaru, putting him on the spotlight. The villager's murmured. "He's our new lord now? Even though he introduced 'mayo' and that 'radio calisthenics, Subaru-sama does not have much experience." Subaru closed his eyes. "You're right. I don't have much. I have only became the new lord a couple of days ago. So I think it's important for you all to know my background, so that you can understand my values and resolve. I'll start by saying where exactly New York is."

Tiffania, having practiced a couple of times shifted the projector to show an image of Earth. "Everyone, please pay attention to the thing that the metia is showing. Subaru-san will explain what it is." The villagers looked at the projector, and looked at each other. "What in the world is that spherical thing? There's water, and land like here. Yet it does not look like any map that Lugnica had." There continues to be more speculation within the villagers. Subaru began to speak once again. "This is going to be important for you all. I am not from any of the four nations here. Rather, I come from that place that you see displayed at the moment. That spherical ball of water and land." One of the male villagers shook his head in disagreement. He had only been in Lugnica for much of his life. "Subaru-sama came from there?! But that place never existed. We haven't even known about a place like that before. How do we even know that you are from there?" Subaru shook his head. "Do you see my clothes here? You haven't seen anything like that here, yes? Now, regarding that sphere you all see, that there is a place called Earth, home to 7.5 billion people. I am one of those people. That there, Earth, is my true home world." The head of the village, the male with the headband, scratched his head. "I see then. So, you are from beyond the waterfall, right? Subaru-sama, is really a place like that?" Subaru slowly nodded to confirm. Once again, murmurs between the villages began to mix around again. "Subaru is from beyond the waterfall? Nonsense." Another villager, a teenage female was kind of lost. "I have never heard of people that came from beyond the waterfall. If what Subaru says is true, then it makes sense that he has that odd clothing." Subaru closed his eyes. "When we all had the Chikichiki Snow Festival a couple of weeks ago, remaindered that I mentioned New York?" Mild, the kid with the buzzed haircut and brown eyes, spoke up. "Subaru, that New York? Can we go there? Where is it?" Subaru had a small smile on his face.

He turned towards Luctiana, who changed the picture to that of New York and the Statue of Liberty. Everyone gave gasps as to the sheer size of the city, and the realization that Subaru during the start of the Snow Festival had the exact same headwear and torch from. "T…those buildings…th….they're huge! Nothing in Lugnica comes even close to that!" Theo cleared his throat. "New York, is a city on Earth, home to over 8 million people. The statue you see there is the known as the Statue of Liberty, one of the most famous landmarks." The same guy with the headband walked forward and turned to the villagers. He pointed at the image showing New York and the Statue of Liberty. "There's no doubt, Subaru is from that place called 'Earth'. It's the real deal! To have buildings like that, they are far head, way ahead of Lugnica." Theo turned to look at the projector picture. "New York is located in the United States. That is not where Subaru's is from." Subaru turned to the others. "My home country is an island nation, in a region called Asia." Tiffania changed tabs to display Japan and Tokyo. "This is my home country, known as Japan. It's also way more advanced than Lugnica in everywhere. Life on Earth is peaceful. Magicless. No Witch Cult. No demi-humans. Tiffania here shows us the capital of my home country, known as Tokyo, home to around 15 million people in the capital alone." The Arlam people were awestruck at the amount and size of the buildings, as well has the number of people living there. "If what Subaru-sama said is true, that means the city contains the entire population of Lugnica. That is crazy." Subaru looked at everyone. "I grew up in a region called Hokkaido, in the northern part of Japan. My…my parents…they were the best parents that you could ever dream of. I led a pampered life there, much more than anyone here in Lugnica, even royalty. Earth is a metia centric world, we have to adapt to changing needs of the human race. We have things over there you can't even fandom to have. Mayo, for example, was a sauce that came from Earth. As I am a mayo lover, and needing to spread the love for mayo over here, I came up with a way to replicate it. I hope that you all are enjoying the sauce that Rem-rin has made."

 _ **Subaru taking over**_

Subaru began to address the crowd. "From this point forward, I am the lord of this domain. I plan to bring in many things from Earth, with the help of my friends here. Oh, and speaking of bring stuff here, we are going to introduce you to this here." The villagers looked at each other. Subaru's face formed into a grin. With his left hand, he took out his OnePlus 7 Pro and showed it to Arlam. The villagers pointed at the device. "What is that in Subaru-kun's hand? Is that a metia or something? I have never seen anything like that before! He's going to give it to us when we don't know what it does?!" Subaru started to sweat, as his nervousness tried to get the better of him today. "Please, don't be fearful of this! It was made in my world, this metia. Theo will explain the details." With that, Subaru stepped away from the crowd, allowing for the elf to take over again. "Ladies and gentlemen, what you see there in Subaru's hand is known as a smartphone. It's one of the most powerful and a jack of all trades metia that almost everyone on Earth has. I'm not going to explain what it can do, because it can do so many things. To make it easier for you all, it's operated by the thing you all were born with, your fingers." Petra tilted her head. "Fingers? Like that thing on Subaru? Just with fingers?" Theo turned to Tiffania. "Yeah, that's right. The blond one over here, will finally be stepping up to the plate." Bidashal aimed the projector so it was aimed at Tiffania's hand. She was taken off guard. "Eh? Um…should you be doing this with Subaru-san and the others? If you say so, I guess I must demonstrate to the villagers then." Her hands were shaking, even with all of the practice. She reached for her pocket and pulled out her Note 9. She began to swipe on the phone, open apps, close apps. Everyone looked dumbfounded. "That metia there is unexplainable? How in the world did Subaru's place even make a thing like that? No other metia comes even close to how complex that thing is. I'd tell you all, the entire metia has magic infused into it!" Luctiana raised her eyebrow at one of the villager's statements. She wanted to disagree.

"That metia there is not magic. Remember that Subaru comes from a magicless place. I knew it may look like magic to you all, but it's not. Humans on Subaru's world have managed to come up with amazing things over the years. We are going to bring that same thing to you all, except we have to come up with a version that uses the Lugnican language. I hope that you all can read those glyphs, because that will become the basis for using new stuff from Subaru's world. Another option would be to enhance every phone so that you all will know Japanese from bottom to end the moment your face is recognized." Luctiana stood up. "It's not going to be easy for all of you to adapt to this new metia. It'll most likely take months for you all to get proficient at using it. Still, I believe that thing there can benefit all of you." Everyone continued to stare at the smartphone, still thinking that it was a device crafted by the finest mages in Lugnica. Subaru looked at everyone. "Now, people here use Dragon Carriages, right?" The man with the headband scratched his head. "Subaru-sama, I think everyone here knows that people have always been using Dragon Carriages in Lugnica. Are you suggesting to us, that your place does not even use them as a method of transportation?" Subaru nodded, as Theo changed the projector to display the image of a sedan car. The disguised half-elf scratched his head. "Err, that would be correct. If you look at that thing on the metia display, what you see is a metal carriage that does not need a dragon beast to operate. It works in a different matter, to which I am not going to explain, because you people are going to get even more confused. What you should know is that is a carriage called a 'car'." People in Arlam village were looking at each other, hearing the term for the first time in their lives. To them, having some way to transport people without a land dragon seems audacious. People in the village reacted in different way to Subaru's reveal of the car on Earth. Subaru continued to explain what it can really do.

"The car has several massive advantages over the dragon carriages. The most important thing is control. As you may know...land dragons can be quite unpredictable. They can tire out easily, or act in a way that you don't want them to. So the distance you can cover with them in a day will be limited and varying. With a car however, the control is in your hands. As long as it has enough fuel to keep it going, like a lamp, a car can go on forever. You may note that circle thing on the right, the black circle in one of the front seats. That is a special seat called the driver's seat." Petra raised her hand, wanting to ask another question. Subaru pointed at her, and she continued. "Subaru, have you rode in that…'car' thing? And maybe use that thing?" Subaru tried to recall his previous life. Once he did that, he looked at Lugnica. "Of course I rode in a car, Petra. Basically, everyone on Earth has experienced it. I think I was in the process of getting a license back in Japan. Of course, my father encouraged me to take a written permit test, and I failed it a couple of times before getting my permit. In other words, from that point on, it was a combination of my father and mother teaching me." Subaru shook his head and kept on going. It was surprising that the villagers haven't lost interest yet. "The next important thing to note is that cars a lot more agile, and can change directions much more rapidly than Dragon Carriages. They can also accelerate much faster and maintain much higher speeds. With the high performance cars, you can get to Lugnica in an hour at most. It took half a day getting from here to the capital by carriage. The amount of time that can be saved in a trip from place to place can be massive. We also have other ways to get around as well, but I'll leave those explanations for later. For now, things are wrapping up."

Over the next ten minutes, the group concluded the gathering, and everyone left to resume their daily routine. Subaru breathed heavily to himself. It was clear from both Bidashal and Theo. Subaru was pretty much done for the day. He panted as they made their way back to the mansion. "That was way more nerve wracking than I thought it was going to be. I think that'll be enough for today. This day is going to be a day of playing video games and taking a break." Luctiana found it to be a perfect opportunity to tease Subaru. "What's the matter, being a lord is too much for you? Not even the first week of you being a new lord, and already slaking?!" Subaru grunted at Luctiana's comment. "L…Like I said before, I'm not Roswaal, so if you think that I'm going to be traveling around the place, flying up in the air like him, you'll be mistaken. I do things my way. Even so, the people might think I'm insane, coming from a place like Japan. I hope those visuals helped convincing them. I really don't know though. Those people have never seen anything like phones or cars in their life. We all have a hard road ahead of us for sure. I'm just trying to make some moments where I can relax in peace." Edan popped out of Subaru's hair once again. "I'm sure that everyone would like to have a day off, Suba. That includes Emilia as well. She must be pretty stressed out from the Royal Election that is occurring at the moment."

 _ **Back in the Mansion**_

Once Subaru was back, he returned to his room. Theo tagged along with him. He noticed that Subaru was clenching his heart, as if something was bothering him at the moment. Theo reached for Subaru's shoulder. "What's the matter Subaru? You seems out of sorts. If something is wrong, feel free to talk to me." Subaru's eyes looked down at the group. "T…Theo. I…I…was thinking about my parents recently. I knew…from the moment that I got here, I'll never see them again. From that moment where I was transported to Lugnica, somewhere deep down, I can't go back to Japan. Even someone like Al, who came from Japan, was here for the last 18 years." Theo didn't say anything at first. Instead, he shook his head and stared into the window. It was a partly cloudy day, with the occasional clouds flowing by. "They must have been really amazing parents to you, Subaru. Well, you have to make do with your current situation. We here are all aware of you struggling with self-loathing, and not feeling you are good enough. It's never an easy thing to get rid of. However, you got some modern tech back. Why don't you learn some battle royale with Tiffania and Luctiana? They would be more than happy to play with you. Well then, I must go and check on them, so take care for now. Kenichi would be proud of you as his son, Subaru, based on what you have achieved." With that, Theo gave Subaru a hand wave before exiting the room, leaving Subaru all alone. He sighed and turned on the Dell G7 on his desk. It fired up, taking him to the desktop screen. _"All right, what are we going to do? Ah, I got an idea. I have an hour remaining, before lunch, so I'll binge watch some anime right now. Arifureta? That is a new one, so I'm going to watch it. Maybe Emilia-tan can watch it too."_ Subaru shook his head and got onto 9anime. He cracked his knuckles at the anticipation of the new series. _"It's time for Natsuki Subaru's daily dose of anime. Let's get this action going!"_ In about an hour or so, Subaru blazed through the first four episodes.

Meanwhile, back in the lobby, everyone was getting ready for lunch as usual. Tiffania noticed that Subaru's spot was empty. "Um….is Subaru-san all right? He seems to be late." Theo looked back at the door. "Subaru should be here by now. Last time I saw him, he was in his room. Perhaps at this time at the moment, Subaru is watching some anime on his computer. He loves to do that kind of thing." Luctiana crossed her arms and relaxed her hands. "Of course, I'm not surprised at all. Subaru must be almost done by now. He's keeping his beloved Emilia waiting for him right now." Luctiana pointed at Emilia, causing her to cower in embarrassment. "Um…Luctiana-sama. I know that Subaru will be here soon." Around ten seconds later, Subaru came through the double doors that lead to the room. "Hello there. Sorry to keep you waiting everyone, I was watching anime in my room." Luctiana scoffed at Subaru. "I knew it. As expected from an otaku. Which one did you watch?" Subaru walked over to his spot and sat down. "Arifureta. An anime about normal high school kids get summoned to another world. The main character, got betrayed by one of his classmates, and fell in the dungeon. He even lost an arm in the process." Bidashal looked on. "That must have hurt badly." Subaru nodded. "Yeah, he was. Somehow, the main character managed to deal with that. He also made a gun out of thin air, and a sniper rifle. I wish I had an ability like that back then! I would have made one in an instant!" Emilia tilted her head. "`Gun?" Theo cleared out the confusion in an instant. "A ranged weapon, much like the crossbow, except that you can fire it more rapidly and with more shots at once. The projectiles travel much faster. It's a dangerous weapon to have, Emilia. That thing can kill if you are not careful." Subaru shook his head. "That guy from that anime was already overpowered when he got that ability. Somehow, Hajime Nagumo gains levels from eating monsters. That's right, killing monsters and eating the meat, sometimes r…raw. Ugh, I think I had some vomit come up from my stomach." Subaru puts his hands on his mouth. Just the thought of eating raw monster meat, with slime covered all over, was unnerving to him. Subaru shook his head to get those thoughts out of his mind.

Luctiana looked at her phone for any upcoming anime. "So Subaru, what did you think of the animation of that show?" Subaru scoffed at Luctiana. "Nothing special for the most part, although the CGI is completely out of place in some parts of the show. I mean, it was pretty bad." Luctiana raised an eyebrow. "That bad, Subaru? Show me the pictures of the show, and I may be convinced." Subaru got out his phone and went to the site that had a photo of the scene where Hajime was fighting the dragon heads. Emilia on the other hand looked confused at what Subaru and Luctiana were talking about. Tiffania noticed that just by her body language. "Emilia-san, you look kind of lost there, when you heard Subaru-san talk about his 'anime' things. Don't worry about it. It's your first time seeing these things." Bidashal continued on with his stance. "There's always a first time for everything, Emilia. Sooner than later, you will have the knowledge on those exact same things as Subaru or Luctiana. That is how people use technology in the modern world. Uh, I mean….Subaru's world." When Luctiana got a look at the scene, her face had a look of disgust. She couldn't believe how bad the CGI was. "Talk about production issues. That has got to be one of the lamest CGI's that has ever been used in an anime. The dragon looks like it came from a PS1 game. I mean, it looks so out of place with the anime style of the characters. How did they think that this would get through quality control?! What a train wreck!" Subaru looked at it as well. He was still speechless about the CGI in episode 4. "Damn. I had to blink several times to confirm that I wasn't seeing things. Geez, it's by this anime studio called Asread. What kind of name is that?"

Theo cracked his knuckles as Subaru got down and materialized his lunch. Emilia was still slightly taken aback by that. "You'll get used to it eventually, Emilia. This is what my fellow elves and I did in Tristain and in Nephthys." Emilia slowly nodded. "Having something like that, would be a changer around here." Subaru looked at his meal, which consisted of a beef ramen along with miso soup, which had bits of tofu and green onions in there. He looked back up at the group. Rem and Ram were already at their seats, eating their food. "So Subaru, what are your plans for today? Looks like the speech you took at the village drained you quite a bit. You have been looking stressed ever since we came back to the mansion." Subaru looked at Bidashal. "Today is going to be a day of relaxation. That means that we are going to skip watching anime today. Rather, I want to learn how to play battle royale games. I think it would spice things up a bit if I play with you guys." Luctiana had a big smirk on her face. More than anything, she wanted to train a new person in battle royale games. "Eh? So you do want to play battle royale, Subaru? Tiffania and I can show you through the ropes by playing a couple of matches together after lunch." Subaru nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I really want to. So please show me how to play after eating, Luctiana-sama!" She giggled at Subaru's statement. "All right then, rookie. After playing single player games for so long, I think the battle royale genre would be a nice change of pace for you." Meanwhile, Theo looked at Emilia, his daughter. He has been wondering how the royal election is going. "So, Emilia. You are always pretty busy with your studies and stuff like that. Also, you're pretty busy with your routine as a Spirits Art user." Emilia played with her silver hair. "Mmm…that's correct. Every day has been busy, ever since I got into the mansion with Roswaal. At that time, I didn't even realize that he was using me for his own ends." Theo shook his head. "I'm sorry you had to be under his control. If only I could have come earlier. Speaking of which, what was really the reason you want to become the ruler of Lugnica in the first place." Emilia paused for a while, which caught the attention of everyone who was in the room. "The reason is…..Roswaal told me that there was a way to save all of the elves that are frozen in the forest. That's the reason wh…." Emilia only got that far before Luctiana budged in with her own thoughts. "I think what Roswaal said is a bunch of bullshit." Bidashal gave an intense look at Luctiana. "Luctiana! Watch your tongue there! Emilia-sama might start using them." This only led to a scoff from the elf. "No. I'll say what I want to say. If someone is frozen in ice, unable to be moved, then that matter should be simple. A simple dispel spell could easily free all of them." Emilia purple pupils widen at Luctiana's statement. "You elves can do something like that over there?!"

Bidashal, as he was the most knowledgeable about magic, stepped in to explain. "Elven magic in our world is extremely powerful, Emilia-sama. Elven magic is called 'Nature Magic' by us, 'Firstborn Magic' by the humans. It can involve making contact with spirits or tap into this so call spirit power of the land. In other words, you can consider the elves in our world to be spirit users as well. Getting to the main point, if what Luctiana-sama said is correct, much like how a petrification debuff is rectified, a frozen elf can be treated the same way as well, with a dispel spell." Luctiana puts her hand on her chin. "But there's another problem. How the hell are we going to find Elior forest from here? We don't even know the location of the mansion with respect to Lugnica. All we know is that this mansion is to the north of the capital." Theo was in the same spot as well. He knows what Elior looks like, but does not know where the location is. "Going around right now, trying to find that place would be foolish. I suggest that we should stay here for the first few months to establish our home first." Emilia objected. "But father, those elves are still frozen in the forest! If what you say is true, then we can go rescue them." Theo looked at his daughter. "No! I'm sorry Emilia. We can't do that right now. Subaru just ascended as the lord of this domain. It would look bad on us if we did that right now. Plus, bringing all of the elves into the mansion is going to cause massive confusion within the villagers. We need to have a plan to bring all of them back." In a rare display of irritation from Emilia, Subaru, as he ate his lunch, saw Emilia pout at her father. Subaru had a small smile of his face. This moment between daughter and father remind of him back home with his father Kenichi. _"I….wonder what my parents are doing right now."_

Rem and Ram finished their lunch. Rem pushed the last plate away from here. "What does Subaru-kun plan to do for the remainder of the day?" Subaru shrugged. "Relax, of course." Ram gave an intense glare at Subaru. "Of course. As expected from Balse, a lazy lord at that." Subaru rolled his eyes. "You're still giving me flack for that Ram? Why can't a lord have a break from time to time?" Ram sighed. "Balse is truly hopeless. Much like how it's obvious who Balse likes." Subaru's cheeks reddened. "N…I..It's not like th..that! I just have to concentrate…on my n….n..new duties. It's important to keep that separate. Please?" Subaru's face is so red, that it was as if someone painted red all of over his face. Theo chuckled. "Just teasing you. Anyways, after dinner, my daughter is going to return to studying. I can't wait to see you get into PUBG with Luctiana and the others. Mostly to see how much you going to suck at first. Waiting for all of those fails, Subaru-sama." Subaru was not pleased at this. He dared to trash talk him about how bad his gaming skills are. "Really Theo? I have not even played that type of game before in my life! I have only played single player games, and I'm really good at them. Do you expect me to fail that bad? Tell me, do you enjoy seeing other people fail in gaming?" Theo chuckled. "I must admit, I have a liking to seeing that kind of stuff." Emilia tilted her head to the side, confused on what is being discussed. "'PUBG'? What is this…'PUBG' stuff you and Subaru are talking about?" Luctiana stepped in. "It's something that is done in the other world….as entertainment." Emilia still was lost. "I…I see. I'm still going to study for the royal election I guess. Subaru, don't push yourself too hard again. You always like to do those type of things. Just like at the Royal Selection." Subaru nodded. By this moment in time, everyone was done with their lunch. Emilia went to do her usual studies, and Subaru and the other elves began their preparations to play PUBG on this sunny day in Subaru's mansion.

 _ **PUBG: Learning the Ropes**_

In a specialized temporary room for gaming, Luctiana and Tiffania had their Dell G7's fired up, ready to play PUBG. Luctiana turned to Subaru as they got to the PUBG menu. "This is a game, as you may know, where 100 players pick up weapons and fight to the death. Good thing, this game can let you play up to four players. That mode is called Squads. There is also two player modes called Duos, and a single player mode called Solo. As you are starting as a rookie in PUBG, I suggest playing Squads to build your skills up." Tiffania continued. "For um…to demonstrate to Subaru-san, we are playing Duos on Erangel. It is the first map to come out in PUBG. Please watch us." In the room, Theo, Bidashal, and Subaru, were spectators of the match. Luctiana looked at the screen. "Theo, please give Subaru the rundown on the controls. All of the controls are shown in the photo. Study it, Subaru." Emilia's father nodded, and gave the image of the controls to Subaru. He looked at each control with detail. "So, these controls don't seem any difference from an FPS game that you would see on the PC. The aim and fire buttons are also on the mouse. Wait a moment, firing modes? So you can fire you gun in either full auto or another mode. Going in on the realism, looks like." Subaru and the other two elves watched as Tiffania and Luctiana were in the waiting lobby. "Match starts in 60 seconds, Subaru. Going to play right now." Subaru raised his eyebrow. "How are you going to drop into the arena in the first place?" Tiffania pressed the M button on her keyboard, showing the path that the plane will travel.

"This plane here will take us to the battlefield. The path that the plane will take will change with every match. Subaru, do you see some of the places which have names on them? Those are the places of interest." Subaru nodded. "So, does that mean certain places see more gunfights and stuff like that?" Tiffania nodded. "Yes, some places are pretty popular among the players in this game. As for the weapons that you get, you start with nothing. The weapons you find on the ground will be different for each time that you play a match. It's what pulls us to this game. Theo, Luctiana, and I have been playing for well over a year now, so we know the ins and outs of this game. Speaking of which, the match is about to start." Theo crossed his arms. "Good luck to the both of you. May you get your chicken dinner." Luctiana shrugged. "That's the hard part. Every match has a different taste of atmosphere." Subaru watched as the match begun. The duo dropped in the Hospital. Two other duos were in the same areas as well. The two elves began communicating. "Tiffania, let's make it quick and gather the supplies that we need. Two other duos are here. If we get caught without a weapon, we're screwed." The half-elf nodded as they scavenged through the buildings. Luctiana managed to arm herself with a UMP45 and a S12, and Tiffania managed to grab a SCAR-L. Both of them got armor for both the head and chest. As they rummaged through the buildings, Subaru gathered his thoughts. "So this is how pick up the loot. Press F on the keyboard." Just then, Luctiana and Tiffania heard gunfire, apparent from one of the other duos. Tiffania was about to go out of the building when Luctiana stopped her. "Let's go out together and take those guys out. They are taking each other out, so by the time we catch them, they are going to be weakened." With that, Subaru and the others watch as the duo snuck up on another group, taking them out with ease. Subaru was amazed. "So, it's not just shooting the moment you see another enemy. From what I have seen, it's also the positioning as well." Luctiana nodded. "That is indeed correct, Natsuki Subaru. Cover in PUBG is absolutely essential to not get killed early on in the game. Also must have good situational awareness as well. Oh, and speaking of which, the circle is going to start closing in pretty soon. We are out of the range of the circle, so we should head towards that, well inside."

Subaru was confused. "Circle? What circle you are taking about in the game?" Tiffania brought out the map again. "Subaru-san, do you see the white circle outline? That is the area that you have to go to, as anywhere outside of that will get covered in blue." The disguised half-elf realized something. "So you are telling me that blue zone is a death barrier? The play area actually shinks?" Theo was also another skilled veteran of PUBG. "Indeed. You will die if you stay too long in the blue zone. You take damage over time in that zone, which gets bigger as the circle gets smaller. On top of that, where the circle will go to is random every game, so your tactics will vary too." Subaru simply nodded and watched as the duo made their way to the circle, not encountering enemies. The circle closed a couple of more times, with it being centered on Rozhok. Tiffania and Luctiana have five kills each. Theo continued to communicate with Subaru. "They are in the last ten now, Subaru. This is where it starts to get really tense." Subaru said nothing as the duo were being rushed by another duo squad. Tiffania tried to aim at one of the players, but they countered back with the Mini 14, causing Tiffania to lose almost all of her health. "Damn! Luctiana, fire back while I heal with the bandages, I think we are not going to…" Luctiana cursed at herself as she tried to lay shots with her SCAR-L. "Damnit, they are hiding behind that rock! I can't get them!" Subaru looked at Theo. "The atmosphere around here is getting quite tense. " Theo did not look back at Subaru, but he replied anyway. "They have a good reason to be tense. They are getting very close to winning." Subaru simply watched. Luctiana was at 40% health, and she began to reload.

What she didn't realize is that the opponent had thrown the grenade at their spot, killing the both of them instantly. "DAMNIT! Ah, I'm sorry, we fell short in this round. Done in by a grenade." Subaru scratched his head. "I think I get the gist of how this game plays now. You guys said that you will play another match?" Luctiana nodded. "Correct. We are playing in Sanhok next. It's much smaller than the last map we played on, so it will be faster paced. Tiffania, let's begin." Once again, they loaded into the match and were on the plane once again. They landed at Bootcamp, one of the hotter spots on the map. They wasted no time as they got their weapons, as they were a lot of teams in the same area. Just about five seconds later, gunfire erupted in the area. Luctiana smirked and dived into the action, Tiffania engaged combat with one duo, killing one by headshot with Mini 14, and getting the other with the same gun. Luctiana also took out another duo in the proximity with her M16A4. Subaru was amazed at the way the two elves managed the recoil of the guns. "The way you control those weapons, it's quite an amazing feat. Some of the weapons recoil like crazy." Luctiana nodded. "It's something that you get good at as you put more hours into it." Just then, Tiffania went down from M416 fire. "No! Luctiana, where is it from?" She gasped. "Behind us!" Luctiana got behind cover, reloaded her weapon, and took one down. She then went to the nearby building, and taking the other one out. Luctiana was at 33% health. She took one of her two medkits, and ran over to Tiffania, who was slowly bleeding out. After being revived, Tiffania took her own medkit, and both of them looted the killed players. By the end of it, both of them were well armed. Theo did an analysis on the way that the both of them played.

"Luctiana and Tiffania are more of the run and gun type of players. They like to move around a lot, so get used to that, Subaru." The half-elf was looking at the controls, as well as the match that was ongoing at the moment. Throughout the next 15 minutes, Tiffania and Luctiana managed to take out three more duo groups without taking a significant amount of damage. The HUD indicated that the three are the last of the 10 players remaining. Bidashal raised his eyebrow. "Here we go once again. I hope they can pull out the win." That statement from Bidashal was answered the next five minutes. Tiffania and Luctiana took out a duo that was hiding in a building, placing them within reach of victory. At long last, they both took out the last group, taking the win with 12 kills combined. Tiffania turned to Subaru. "We have won the match. Now, do you want to give it a shot now?" Subaru's face lit up like a kid on Christmas day. "Of course I want to play. Let me into the match." Theo stepped forward, grabbing his Dell G7 laptop as well. "I'm joining as well. Subaru, please get ready to head into battle."

 _ **Subaru's first steps into battle royale**_

Subaru went back up to his room to grab his laptop and rushed back to the room to boot it up. The moment he launched the Steam client, he realized that he did not have PUBG on his computer. "Damn, I have to buy this crap?! 20 dollars for this?! Fine, whatever. Looks like I have to bit the bullet for this. I need my wallet for this instance." Subaru checked his pockets to see if his wallet was there. "It's not there. Most likely, I left it under the drawer of that office desk in my room. One moment." The other elves waited as Subaru rushed back in his room to get his wallet. There was a debit card that he had, with the money coming mostly from the government. Before he used the money to buy the game, Subaru looked at the screen to confirm his purchase. _"My father is not going to be pleased about this."_ The download commenced, which took over ten minutes. Subaru crossed his legs. "Boy, I can't wait to get absolutely destroyed in PUBG." Luctiana scolded Subaru. "Not even your first match, and you have that self-defeating mindset from the get go. Quite a high maintenance boy, I must say." Subaru simply grumbled to that statement. Theo raised his hand. "Before we start, we should share our Steam names with each other and send friend requests." Everyone did exactly that. Now, Theo, Luctiana, Subaru, and Tiffania all were connected. They launched into the PUBG menu. Theo invited the entire group. They were all ready to play. As expected, Natsuki Subaru was a little bit nervous for his first match. In a lobby at the moment, Subaru began to run around, based on learning the controls for the game.

"Feels a little clunky, though I think I can get used it if given enough time." Luctiana mentored Subaru. "This is a more realistic game, you know? This isn't Call of Duty." The timer continued to tick down by the minute, leaving everyone to prepare for combat. Theo gave the quick briefing. "Listen all, the plane is towards the right side of the map. We are going to land in Khao, since that place gets less traffic than other locations. As the fact that Subaru is a beginner at this game, we cannot drop at Bootcamp. Subaru would became fodder there. Subaru, when we jump off, you jump off and follow us. Press W to dive really fast." Subaru nodded as the match began. Theo marked the spot to drop, which was in Khao. Another squad was there. Subaru began running as fast as possible to get some guns. _"To loot, I remember pressing F to grab the stuff. All right, I got a level 1 helmet, a UMP9 and S12, and some bandages."_ Theo got a SCAR-L and some level 2 gear. Luctiana got a M16A4, and Tiffania had a M416. Just then, an enemy entered his door. "Shit! Here comes the enemy." Subaru dumped UMP9 bullets into that person, knocking him down. He then finished him off by headshot. "First kill in a battle royale! Oh yes! Now, let's get out of here." Subaru ran his way out, while getting shot by gunfire from the enemy team. Luctiana looked at her HUD. "Guys, Subaru is in trouble! He has no health! Prepare to engage the enemy in combat!" The moment was getting tense right now. "Roger! Engaging the enemy!" Theo, Luctiana, and Tiffania located the other team. A gun battle ensured. Subaru was knocked down after he tried to open fire with his UMP9. "Son of a bitch! The damn recoil, I can't hit a thing!" Theo's voice became more serious. "Subaru is down! Tiffania, go revive him! We are going to take care of the other team now! One of them has been already knocked down!" True to his word, Theo and Luctiana took the other ones out with ease. Subaru shook his head, lamenting at his own incompetence at the game. "I…I'm sorry guys, I got knocked down." Tiffania, being the timid half-elf that she is, revived Subaru. "Subaru-san, don't you worry about getting shot down. It even happens to the best players from time to time. Come on, let's hurry. The circle is starting to close in towards the south side, and we are on the north." Everyone looted fast and began making their way to Paradise Resort. Theo was the one that was leading the way at the moment. The number of players still alive was 40. Just then, out of nowhere. Tiffania got shot in the head by a Kar98k, downing her instantly. Luctiana was on full alert. "Shit! Enemy fire! Get down. Get to cover! Get to…" She was the next one to get hit, taking almost all of her health away. Luctiana tried to return fire, only to go down next. "NO! I'm down! Theo and Subaru, it's up to you. Damn, it's coming from one of the buildings on Paradise Resort." They both tried to rush the site, only to get shot down by raining gunfire. Subaru cursed pretty loudly as the group placed #13.

Tiffania grumbled in frustration. "That's real unfortunate. All right, let's begin the next match." Subaru nodded as Theo fired up the same map again. This time, they dropped out and landed in Pai Nan. Luckily, no one landed there besides them. All of them got geared, then moved to the action at Bootcamp. As expected, when they reached there, it was looted already. Gunfire was still talking place. The group sneaked around the area, with Subaru blasting shotgun rounds at one of the enemies who was down. He then began to taunt the person. "How do you like that buckshot in your face? Stay down!" Then, another enemy from the same group open fire. Subaru managed to spray Vector rounds into the other person, downing him. Subaru then spotted another member from a different squad, who started shooting at him. He tried to return fire, but he was downed and was killed by headshot with a Mini 14. "Kuso! The recoil got me again!" Luctiana alerted the others. "Subaru is out of the game! Stay alert!" Subaru grumbled as he spectated his team. "I died once again. Well, that is to be expected. It's my first day at the game." He watched them his squad make their way to the end stages of the game. With about 7 people left, this means that 2-3 squads are still alive. The circle closed in on Paradise Resort. Tiffania, Theo, and Luctiana managed to pull the victory out. In total, they got 5 kills, while Subaru got two. Luctiana raised her hands in the air. "Yes! We did it! We won the match!"

 _ **Subaru's misfortune in PUBG and the aftermath**_

What followed after that was Subaru celebrating by fist pumping. "Even without me in the battle, you guys managed to pull out the win. Truly amazing work there." Theo cracked his knuckles. They were going to play a couple more matches as squads, and so, they did exactly that. Both times, they managed to place in the top 5. Subaru was getting a little annoyed in one instance. An hour time has passed in the mansion. It was now around 3:00 PM. Luctiana looked at Subaru. "Well, if you want to get better at this game, I think you should play Solo mode now on Sanhok. It'll be a good practice for you, since you can't even hit the broad side of a barn. I have seen you, spraying on that map in full auto fire. You are not going to win gunfights in PUBG if you play like that. It'll take at least 100 hours for you to gain your constancy." Subaru grumbled as he fired on Sanhok, going in by himself. Luctiana smirked. _"Oh man, it's going to be fun watching Subaru-sama fail."_ Bidashal looked at her. He was not sure about what she was thinking. _"The way that she is looking at Subaru right now, I think she's waiting for a reaction from him. He's a rookie at PUBG, so I expect him to die a lot."_ Sure enough, the deaths over the next two hours came left and right. From getting killed by a headshot from long range, to getting shotgunned in the face. Subaru was starting to get irked little bit. Though it was only it was his first time playing the game today, it is evident to the others that there is a massive skill gap between him and the elves. Luctiana was watching the way Subaru played. _"His movements are pretty jerky and without any tactics. Subaru has a long way to go before he masters this game."_ In one certain match, Subaru died to a frying pan while he was trying to punch the enemy to death. Subaru was not at all pleased by this. "I….I…I died…..TO A FRYING PAN!? W..what kind of game is this where you die to a freaking frying pan?" With those words in mind, the entire group erupted at Subaru's misfortune. "Seriously. The recoil is almost impossible to control in the first place. This….this is going to take a while." By the time that 5:00 PM rolled about. Subaru had enough with the game. "I think, that's enough PUBG for now. I still have a lot to learn in this game. It's better for me to go check on Emilia-tan once dinner rolls around. And I also need to talk with the lesser spirits, see if they know anything regarding the deceased Roswaal."

Everyone shuts down their laptops and puts them in their corresponding rooms. Subaru went over to check on Rem and Ram. _"Two maids for this mansion is not going to be enough anymore. If in the future we find another one, we'll jump on that opportunity."_ Subaru walked back over to his room to check on the time now. "It was already 5:30. Time is already flowing pretty fast. I guess I'll just view the sunset from my room." Subaru crossed his legs and slowly tapped his legs. He looked over to his disguise watch, flipping it over. He transformed back into a silver haired half-elf with blue eyes. With a sigh, Subaru opened up his OnePlus 7 Pro, wrapping things up for the day. As usual, he checked the news in Japan, along with new video gaming trends. Just now, Luctiana went into Subaru's room. He noticed it, so he turned around. "It's time for dinner, isn't it?" Luctiana nodded. "Come on, the others are waiting for you." At the dining room, Subaru announced that he was going to ask the lesser spirits tonight regarding people questioning the disappearance of the previous lord. Emilia was confused. "Subaru. Why? I don't think it's necessary to do those kind of things." Theo shook his head. "No. This needs to be addressed at once. There is a very strong chance that rumors of Roswaal disappearing out of nowhere will spread like wildfire. Without an official announcement of the new lord, Subaru, the Emilia camp is done for." Subaru grumbled. Deep within, he's still fighting that urge to be a lazy bum. "Whatever. After I finish this dinner, I'll go talk to the lesser spirits." Rem looked at Subaru, again. "Subaru-kun, what about your studies? You haven't mastered our language." He wagged his finger. "That will come after I do my thing."

Following dinner, Subaru went outside to ask the lesser spirits. His body began to glow again, just like Emilia's when she did her secession many times before. One of the lesser sprits began talking. "Hello there, rookie. How has it been going lately? Last time we met, you wanted information about the Witch Cult's location." Subaru nodded. "Yes, that's true. Now, I want you to tell me if there is any rumors regarding Roswaal's sudden disappearance circulating around Lugnica?" The lesser spirits began to glow and spin around Natsuki Subaru. Finally, he stopped. "So I have the answer to your question. Since Emilia's father offed Roswaal, people around the country are spreading rumors that the Margave may be dead. After all, he's been gone for almost ten days now. No one seen him." Subaru was worried as heck. "That's all I needed to know from you. Thanks for the information." With that, Subaru bolted to the mansion and rushed to Bidashal. "Damn! Rumors have already begin to spread that Roswaal is dead! This is bad!" Bidashal shook Subaru. "Calm down! I can agree, this is quite troublesome. Tomorrow, we have to act fast. Otherwise, our faction is going to get eliminated from the Royal Election!"

Things have certainly began to heat up for the Royal Election ever since Subaru took over…


	14. Moderizing Chronicles (3): SAO&Smash

_**Morning, 9:00 AM.**_

Natsuki Subaru, the half-elf in his sleeping attire, woke up, rubbing his eyes. Unlike last time however, Edan would also be up around this time. Subaru was shaken as he stared up to looked at Edan. The fox spirit giggled. "Took you by surprise again, Suba? Ah, good morning to you as well." Subaru scratched his head, groaning a bit. _"Jeez, PUBG is really punishing on me. I struggle to even get a kill in solo mode. All the guns have a ridiculous amount of recoil_. _Climbing through the damn ceiling like it's a damn rocket! Argh! It's just frustrating when I think about it!"_ Subaru was about to rip his hair out in frustration when Edan jumped in. "Suba, are you a little bit agitated? Could it have to do with that….'PUBG' thing you are the others were playing last night?" Subaru grumbled as he got pulled out his materializer to get his usual breakfast. It was consisted of coffee with miso soup and a small rice tuna bowl. "Edan, you weren't watching me playing PUBG, right?" The fox spirit giggled. "Did you really think I did not see that? After all, I am your contracted spirit. I saw everything." He came so close to the point where he was right next to Subaru's ear. "Including all of your embarrassing….deaths. Like that frying pan de…" Subaru reached his limit. "Why you!" He tried to lunge at Edan, but he merely scooted away. "I could barely hold it in."

Subaru simply shrugged Edan off. "Barely what? Laughing at my incompetence in the game?! Give me a break! It's only my first day at the game. Tiffania, Luctiana, they have been playing PUBG for quite a while. I'll be honest, the concept of killing everyone you see is pretty cool. But unless you master the game, you'll be dying quite a lot. This isn't like those single player games where I just play alone. This is actually playing against other people. The amount of time dedicated to the game is pretty ridiculous. Getting good within the first week is impossible." Suabru continued to chomp down on his starting meal. Edan took interest in it. "So, that is what you eat for breakfast every day, Suba?" Subaru shook his head. "Not always. Back in Japan, my parents would determine what we eat as a family. Oh, and by the way, I really hate peas with a passion. I will never eat that unless I absolutely have to." To Subaru himself, it was clear that he was troubled by what was revealed last night. Rumors have been confirmed that Roswaal, the former Margrave, had disappeared to a place that no one really knows. Subaru, venting out his powerless of the situation handed to him, punched the bed. "Kuso! I have to deal with this shit now?! All I ever wanted was to live a peaceful live in this mansion? Isn't that enough to ask for in the first place. Jeez, all of this diplomacy and politics stuff is really starting to get on my nerves." He walked out of his room, making sure that everything was in place. He fiddled with his long silver hair, while Edan followed closely behind him. "Well Suba, there is no away around it, unfortunately. I'm sensing that your friends from another world are waiting for you in the dining room to discuss about this manner." Subaru made his way to the dining room, where all of the elves from Zero no Tsukaima were wanting for him. Luctiana made her first mark, of course. "Subaru-san, you're a little late? Enjoyed you breakfast and computer time?" Subaru nodded and sat down at his designated seat. Theo rubbed his hands. "We are here to discuss the issue of PR. In other words, without an official endorser, my daughter will be out of the Royal Election. From Subaru's session with the lesser spirits, rumors of Roswaal being dead are spreading like wildfire. It's our job to quell that misunderstanding as soon as possible, and reveal the truth about that slimball." Tiffania crossed her legs. "Theo-san, a letter addressed to the Elders would be the best way, yes? Can you make a letter like that quickly? We really don't have much time to goof around, as this is the utter most importance to Emilia-san's participation in the Royal Election."

Edan looked around at the table, as he was still out. Tiffania pointed at the white fox. "Oh, Subaru-san, your familiar named Edan is out again?" The white fox spun around. "That's right! I am out again. Unlike that Puck spirit, who is currently on Emilia's side. She is currently sleeping at the moment. You know, his attitude towards his contractor is quite admiring. I'm sure you know all about those very moments, Suba." Subaru nodded and turned towards the others. "If we assume that the letter can be done, then that would be the best option. Now that I think about it, how are you going to convince them about the new lord of the mansion? Roswaal is one of the most well-known people here." Luctiana crossed her arms. "That fact is simple, Subaru-kun. We have to convince them that Roswaal is a traitor to the Lugnican people. Simply, the fact that he conspired to have the Witch of Greed resurrected and the very words of him saying that he'll kill the dragon should be enough. According to the people of this world, the Convent of the Dragon protects the people here. Roswaal has been shown to trample on that very thing." Bidashal scratched his head as he looked at Luctiana. "That brings up another problem though? How in the world are we going to convince them that? Also, transportation to that garrison will be an issue as well." Tiffania shook her head. "No, getting there will be no problem. We can simply use our materializers to get our motorcycles. Forgot about the dragon carriage. It's way too slow, and using that to get to the capital will take half a day. We don't have time for that. At best, it will go as fast as a car, and it also has to make several stops along the way. The dragon carriage is not a viable option."

Luctiana clenched her fist, her gaze hardening. She shook her head in a frenzy. "T…That's right! I refuse to ride in the dragon carriages in Lugnica. I am not going to take a half a day just to get to the capital to deliver some letter!" That irked Bidashal, who was sitting right next to her. He gave his niece a piercing look that drove her silent. "Then, will you be satisfied when Emilia-sama is eliminated from the Royal Election? Getting that letter to the elders who run this country is the utter most priority. Theo will make this letter sometime later on." Subaru nodded. "That would be nice. Wait a minute, Luctiana-san, did you say that you will not take the dragon carriages? Then, what are you going to use to get to the capital?" Luctiana had a big smirk on her face. She merely cracked her knuckles as entrainment. "Something much, much better than that, Subaru-sama. I'm talking about the Ninja H2." He tilted his head in confusion. "Ninja H2? Is that like a motorcycle or something? Is it a new one that came out pretty recently?" Luctiana nodded. "Yeah, it came out around a couple of years after you were teleported to Lugnica. This thing can top speeds up to 215 MPH." Subaru shook his head in disbelief. Here, Luctiana is assuming that she can ride the motorcycle. "Did Saito-san bring that from Earth to Tristain? If that is the case, then most likely you are already well experienced with it. But…." Bidashal lifted his eyes up and stared directly at Subaru. "The fact is, using those motorcycles will draw out attention for sure. I say we should go with it. Subaru, what's your final decision?"

Subaru closed his eyes for a moment, then gave his verdict. "Of course. After all, we want to modernize Lugnica, so please take the fastest possible method of transportation over there. And by the way, today is also going to be another day of watching Sword Art Online. We'll be going over episodes 4-8." Tiffania looked up after she was looking stuff up on her Note 9. "Subaru-san, I love that series. Kirito getting all of the power ups early on. Something you could have used back then, become you became extremely powerful." Just as when Subaru was about to reply, the sound of double doors that leads to the dining room were opened. Subaru looked at who it was, and his heart started racing again. It was Emilia, who was done with her routine for the morning, such as talking to the lesser spirits. She sat down near her seat, which was close to Subaru. At this moment in time, he could feel his cheeks which were burning at the very moment. Nobody noticed the change that his face went through. Theo turned to his daughter and cleared his throat. "Sorry about not telling this earlier Emilia, but a big issue just came out yesterday night. After Subaru's conservation with the lesser spirits yesterday, they said to him that rumors of Roswaal disappeared has been spreading rapidly through the capital and the various towns around Lugnica. If this continues, it will most likely be the case that you will get eliminated from the election, Emilia. Without an official sponsor like Roswaal, this camp is done." Emilia was speechless at her father's revelation. "Eh? What? Father, if what you are saying is true, then we have do something." Theo nodded. "Subaru and I have decided that the best method of action is to send a letter to the Elders to inform them of the new endorser of you, Emilia. I'll get the letter done sometime today. Boy, they are going to be in for a surprise when they find out who is the new endorser. You are going to show your half-elf form, right Subaru? Edan would like some of that too." Edan spoke from within Subaru's crystal. _"I won't be so sure about that, Theo. Suba prefers that I stay in this thing unless it is absolutely mandatory. It's bad practice for full size spirits like me and Puck to stay materialized. Mana is critical."_

Subaru rolled his eyes in response to Edan. "You didn't really need to tell them that, Edan. I think they already know that part. "Theo, do you think they would really want to see the new endorser of Emilia-tan? The elders?" Theo looked at the others, who then looked at Subaru. "There's a really high chance that the elders will request to see the new lord of the mansion. Keeping your half-elf disguise would be the best course of action. If people in the capital found out that you were the holder for the most powerful Yin magic in Lugnica, being a spirit arts user, being a half-elf, and having healing magic second to Ferris will draw attention to unwanted people. I don't want to put anyone here, especially my daughter." Emilia nodded. "Yes, that would be of the best interests. Subaru is going to show us more of that Sword Art Online thing that we watched a couple of days ago." Subaru stood up and cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to go do radio calisthenics with the villagers. See you all in about an hour. Take care of Emilia-tan for me, okay Theo?" With that, Subaru made his exit to Arlam village. Once the doors closed, everyone looked at each other. Luctiana had a small smile on her face. So did her friend, Tiffania, "Subaru-san hasn't really changed much, even after becoming a half-elf. Having a life in Japan is something that I want to experience firsthand. Um, Emilia-san, did you tell Subaru about your past?" Those words from Tiffania caught Emilia off guard. Memories began to rush in of living a frugal lifestyle back in Elior Forest. Moments of cleaning her fellow elven statues, along with the initial meeting with Pucj. She also recalled the rejection from the multitude of villages. And one certain person, named Chap. "Eh? Wha-. I haven't told Subaru about my..um…past in the forest. I'm not ready for that yet."

Bidashal looked at Emilia. "When you are ready, tell him about it. I mean, if you are not comfortable to tell us, then don't do it. We aren't forcing you to do that kind of thing. This must still be quite a bit of a culture shock to you, Emilia. Seeing these devices that you have never seen in your lives." Emilia fiddled with her long silver hair. "Mmm, yes. It's a new time of metia that I am still getting used to. You elves also seem to use those with no problems whatsoever. I also heard from you elves that you developed new things back in Tristain." Theo tilted his head. "Actually, that is what we were doing back in Tristain. The elves were busy with magic and metias from Subaru's world and learning to make new things from them. This was after Louise and Saito defeated the Dragon, and people began to live with elves and half-elves. If I could, I would bring Subaru to that place and meet our kind queen named Henrietta. Technology over there exploded within the first two years. The new metia that you see in the bedroom with the clock is only the beginning. Already, you can tell the time easily. Ah, we should wait for Subaru to come back before we do anything else." Luctiana grumbled in frustration. "Oh come on! It's not like he's going to kill us if we just do something in the mansion. Ugh. Tiffania, can we play some more PUBG Mobile? Cue up in duos while we wait for Subaru." Tiffania nodded. "O…okay Luctiana-san." Bidashal gave a loud sigh. "They are really into that PUBG Mobile game. Jeez, it has really taken over Tristain as well. Even Henrietta was caught one day playing that game. Tenant really knows how to keep their players hooked. I fear that Subaru will get hooked as well." Theo looked at Emilia, who was looking back at her father. She was confused. "Is there something wrong with me right now?" Theo brushed that question aside. "There's nothing wrong, Emilia. I was just thinking about something."

Around an hour later, Subaru returned to the dining room. "Ah, I am back from the village. Everything over there is normal. Did I miss anything while I was gone?" Theo looked at the others. "Not really. The past hour was spent on planning to send a message to the elders that Subaru is the new sponsor of Emilia. We also discussed of potentially renovating the anime watching room with more decorations from your world, Subaru-sama. The mansion has already expanded by quite a lot, due to our help. After all, you really wanted this in the first place, and so do I. To get this place as comfortable as possible." Subaru scratched his silver hair. "Of course, I used my human disguise at the village. I'm not ready for that. I know I have to do it someday, but today is not that time." Rem and Ram entered the room with the lunch. "Subaru-kun, the lunch is ready." Her sister Ram followed suit. "Barusu, here is the extravagant course today. Will today be another day of watching Sword Art Online?" Edan popped out of Subaru's hair again. "Of course! Suba is planning that later on. And it's also the time to consider another date with Emilia, Suba!" Subaru was caught off guard. "Wha-. Wha-. Wha…." His face turned into a bright shade of red. Emilia also blushed in embarrassment at Edan's declaration statement. "Subaru and….I….um….I. I don't really know what it means to love someone. I don't have much experience with people, so I don't have friends." Theo widened his eyes. "What are you talking about? You have one in front of you, named Subaru. He's your first one, right? And probably the one you are going to marry in the future." Emilia turned even redder. "Wh-." She looked down, with her cheeks beet red. Theo wasn't taking the situation around him seriously. "You have the face of my wife, and the beautiful silver hair and eyes of me. I love to tease from time to time." He gave his daughter a wink.

Bidashal observed the situation. "You're one of the most carefree elves that I have encountered. Ever since the first time I met you, being that type of person always seems to be calming to me. Even you are like that against your daughter. I can never be as carefree as you." Theo looked at the bright sun. "Sometimes you have to take thing lightly. I learned that from my late human wife back in Lugnica. People keep saying that she is a witch, but to me, she is my wife." Subaru had a small smile on his face, recounting his experiences with his parents. He slowly shook his head. "The same thing is for me. Ah….I am getting too ahead of myself again. This is now the time to start eating. Rem and Ram have already delivered our meals. _Itadakimasu." With that, everyone in the room began eating their meals. While eating, Emilia was confused on Subaru's words. "Father, what was that that Subaru said?" Theo replied without looking. "It's a Japanese custom to say that kind of thing before eating a meal. Japan is that kind of place where people try not to stand out. What a quiet place to live, to be honest." Tiffania was playing PUBG Mobile while eating, yet again. Bidashal gave a sigh. "This again, Tiffania? Do elves do that kind of thing while eating? Earth has really changed you. It all started with Saito." Tiffania ignored Bidashal and kept on playing._ _"She's not listening. When did Tiffania ever get this stubborn anyway?"_

 _The meal was completed, and everyone returned to their normal routine. Emilia went to do her studies in her room, while Subaru led the elves into his room for a gaming section of Black Ops 4. They watch him as he absolutely wrecked people match after match in Black Ops 4. Even Luctiana was amazed at his skills. "His reactions are lightning fast. How did he even get this good at the game? PUBG is the complete opposite when it comes to his skill level." Theo tilted his head. "The most logical explanation for that would be that Subaru has played twitchy like games where reaction is key, much like Touhou. After all, Subaru is pretty good at those games. Oh look, Subaru is about to prestige." Subaru had a big smirk on his face. "And here we go, Prestige 1 in Black Ops 4. I am taking the Maddox RFB with me." Tiffania simply watch Subaru do that, and saw that all of his perks and guns were reset, bar the Maddox. Subaru got back into a Nuketown lobby and managed to pull his team up from the brink of defeat. Luctiana laughed at the other team as she heard the rage that was coming from the other mics. "They are really pissed off, Subaru. Congrats, you really triggered them. How in the world are you dominating like this?! We really need your skills in PUBG for crying out loud!" Subaru grumbled. "Give me a break! I only started playing that. Also, the recoil control is quite a steep mountain to climb._ Luctiana-san, can't you learn to cut me some slack for being a rookie at the game?" Subaru turned his attention to the 4K TV, which showed the Black Ops 4 menu. "I have to get good at this game. Damn, these people are really going all out. Which means that I have to go all out as well." The next match came, and Subaru's team lost the match at 99-100. At this revelation, Subaru pressed his head into his hands in frustration. Luctiana mocked Subaru and lavished at his failures. "What's the matter? The other team too good for you?" Subaru was trying to hide his fueling rage at his teammates, but Theo clearly saw through that.

After about an hour or two, Subaru finished the game and turned to his friends. "I think it's about time we play some PUBG right now. Emilia is about to be done with her studies in an hour or so." Luctiana scoffed. "Out of all the lords in this mansion, you are by far one of the laziest! At least think about doing something useful for the Emilia camp instead of sinking even more time into video games!" Subaru shrugged her off. "It's my choice on how I decide to use my time. After all, I am the new lord of this domain, and I will decided what's best. Right now, it is time to get some fun under our belts." Another hour has passed, and there was more rage for Subaru, who kept getting killed in the early stages of the game due to his incompetence in his aim and awareness of his surroundings. For the other elves of Zero no Tsukaima, who were all well experienced in PUBG, it was hard for them to watch Subaru fail time and time again. By the very end of the hour, Subaru's face was clearly showing signs of wear and tiredness. Eventually, Subaru stopped playing the game on his Dell G7 and got up. He turned towards the others. "Another frustration day in PUBG. It's time for another session of anime watching! All of you should make your way to our anime watching room. I'm going to go get Rem, Ram, and Emilia-tan!" With that, Subaru exited his room. Theo had a smile on his face. Luctiana glared at him. "What are you smiling for?" Theo scratched his head, an unexpected question from Luctiana. "I….uh…um…was reminded of how Subaru slowly started to change from that certain moment. Emilia gave him a purpose in life, in which he didn't felt like one. Can't really blame someone like him though, living in a complex society."

 _ **Anime Watching Section 2 - SAO**_

Bidashal began walking towards the door. "Let's go, Subaru-sama wanted us to go to that room. After all, we are going to watch more Sword Art Online today, it seems. Though I have watched it once before, it was an enjoyable experience for me." With that, everyone in Subaru's room made their way to the anime room. Subaru was able to convince Rem and Ram to watch with them again, but that was only because they have already completed the errands for the afternoon. It also didn't take much to convince Emilia to come and join Subaru, since she was already done with her studies for the day. After everyone was in the room, Subaru turned towards everyone. "Today is going to be another day of watching more Sword Art Online." Ram glared at Subaru intensely. "Barusu, are you going to provide us with more moving pictures from last time?" The silver haired half-elf was booting his Dell G7 into Windows 10. "They are not moving pictures, they are called anime. Keep that in mind. Our recent elven friends already know this." Subaru navigated to the 9anime website, and clicked on SAO. _"Now, where did we left off from last time? Ah, we finished episode 3. I'm interested to see how Kirito progresses through this anime."_ Rem fiddled with her fingers. Apparently, she was excited to view more of SAO. She had never seen anything like that before in her life. The same goes for Emilia as well, who enjoyed seeing words translated into actual people and actual scenes that she could see with her very own eyes. Subaru got back to his sitting couch where everyone was waiting for Subaru to start the episode.

Tiffania reminded Subaru about making sure that everything was going to plan. "Subaru-san, please make sure that you keep track of the episode we are on. Also, start it already. Everyone is waiting!" Finally, Subaru selected episode 4 of SAO. The big 4K screen began to play the episode.

 _ **Episode 4 – The Black Swordsman**_

 _ **Character Key**_

Emilia (E) Subaru (S)

Bidashal (B) Tiffania(Tif)

Luctiana(L) Theo(Th)

Rem(Re) Ram(Ra)

 _ **A meeting in the forest**_

S: The 35th fifth floor? Damn, they aren't even more than one third of the way there.

B: At that rate, they need to find a way out before they die in the real world.

Th: Bidashal, you're right. Even with the most advanced treatment from Japan's facilities, it's very unlikely that their bodies will last 5 years. Japan has one of the best average lifespans of any nation on Earth.

E: Lifespan? Father, don't humans at Subaru's place live around the same age as the people do here?

Th: Emilia, people in Subaru's world can live longer on average due to advances in medicine.

S: Healing crystals huh? That would be convent as hell.

Tif: So that girl's name is Silica-san. And I don't like that red hair woman already. I am getting bad vibes.

L: Agreed. That girl is so full of herself. I want to punch that bitch's smug face.

Th: Silica left the party? Well that's a good thing, because that red haired women is so full of herself.

 **(SAO intro plays)**

 _ **Silica's Encounter in the Forest**_

S: Black Swordsman? If I have to guess, it would be referring to Kirito.

L: That Silica girl is in real trouble now. Her health is only at half, and she is surrounded by monsters.

E: More demon beasts? But how? What is those red mana crystals floating over time?

Re: Subaru-kun! Subaru-kun! Look at the swing of that beast and that girls dodging skills!

S: That thing there, is that her spirit, like Puck?

E: Hmm, I think she is a spirit arts user, Subaru. Look, it's casting some spell on her? What type of magic though?

S: Wait a minute, that thing can heal her?!

L: Your reaction to that is as if you never seen familiar spirits that can heal their masters, Subaru.

S: Give me a break! It's not like I'm from here in the first place!

Tif: Oh no! Silica-san has ran out of healing items! Get out of there, there are way too many of them!

The crew watched as Silica was sent flying by one of the monsters with the club, resulting in her hitting a tree truck. Emilia, Subaru, and Tiffania winced at the sight of that scene.

Th: Things are taking a turn south quickly. She needs to get o….Subaru, what are you shocked at?

Subaru's face was filled with shock. He has played RPGs before, so he knows how bad an attack can be.

S: T..T…That thing took out a huge chunk of her health. Emilia-tan, if Silica's health goes to zero, it's game over for her! She's a level 44 too, and that thing did that much damage!?

Tif: It's swinging the club right at her! She's done for! NO, she can't die here!

L: Pina, that's her name. One swing took all of her health away. She's glowing, which means…

Th: The spirit is about to perish due to no health. It shattered, just like that player in the first episode.

Emilia: Her…familiar just did that. It's…just like that time….with the minute spirits and Puck…..with fighting Melakuera.

S: Melakuera?!

E: Oh, it's nothing, Subaru. Forgot about that name I mentioned. It's from the past of mine.

S: That thing turned into a feather, what in the heck?

Th: There is our main character Kirito, killing all of the monsters in one hit. Bet you he leveled up like crazy.

E: Beast tamer? I never heard of someone like that before.

Th: Best guess would be they are like Spirit Art users, Emilia. Maybe that is what they are in the world of that Aincad. Also, it seems that they are quite rare in that….virtual world.

Ra: Waltz here alone? Reminds me of that one moment when Barusu waltzed and thought he could fight Julius and embarrassed Emilia-sama.

(Subaru's face was filled with annoyance)

L: _Thank you very much for saving me? Sounds like what Emilia said to Subaru back at the loot house._

S: There is a resurrection item available? On that place called the Hill of Memories it seems.

Tif: Floor 47, which means that higher level player can go there safely. And has three days to bring back Pina

Th: What I find funny is that Silica is asking Kirito why he is going so far for her. Kirito said that he'll tell her if she won't laugh.

L: She's going to laugh, isn't she?!

(Silica bursts into laugher after Kirito told her that she looked like her sister)

S: You can predict these kind of things, don't you Luctiana?

L: I'm very good at reading sav….I mean...people, after Iiving with them for a while.

B: Hmm, back to the 35th floor. Looks like a town of sorts.

E: Does every place have a floor like this? Those buildings don't look different from the capital here.

S: Don't know, but seems like this virtual world has towns like these. It's a good thing those are there. Monsters are barred from the safe zone in the city. To be honest, that is reality to those people. Also, Kirito lives on the 50th floor. If I was going to guess, there's another town on that floor.

L: Oh no. It's that damn savage girl again. What a brat.

Th: Good thing Kirito got Silica far away from that slimeball.

Ra: The girl reeks of the Witch. Barusu, don't go anywhere near her.

Re: Subaru-kun, I'll protect you if she ever comes here and starts her thing.

E: So people act differently in this world. It is different from what they will act in the…um…real world. Subaru, is what I am saying wrong?

S (shakes head): No, Emilia-tan. From where I am from, there are people who act differently online because the other person can't see them in person.

E (confused): "Player" indicator? So it's not a spirit crystal?

Th: No, Emilia. That thing above Kirito's head tells about if he had committed any crime.

E: Player killer? Murder?! So that means killed off for real?

S: That's right. Murder in this game is murder in the real world too.

B: People can find fun in playing as the villain in a game. This here is not a game. It's the real deal.

L: Her embarrassment is quite cute though.

S: Mirage Sphere.

E: Another metia?!

Th: Not a metia, my daughter, some kind of device.

B: That's their plan, to get to the Hill of Memories. Suiting name for a place where you can revive your pet.

Re: Someone was eavesdropping on the conversation. Kirito-kun caught onto that. He's good.

 _ **Floor 47 Flower Garden**_

E: Look at all of those flowers in the field Subaru! They are beautiful!

S: It is amazing how the developers managed to create a place like this.

Just then, Silica got attacked by a plant like monster. It then panned to a close up view of Silica's clothing, to which Subaru averted his eyes. Theo and the elven group noticed him doing that.

L: Well, at least you aren't a pervert, Natsuki Subaru.

S: That is implies that I was one before! Don't make such accusations!

Ra: It's going to eat her. Here, if you die, you are dead for good.

Tif: Flailing about like that with her dagger. Silica-san isn't really experience with fighting whatsoever.

Th: Whoa, looking at her combat skills. Not bad for a younger. I bet she's a couple of years younger than you, Subaru. Probably around 14-15 years old.

S: So Kirito is actually refer his 'sister' who is actually his cousin. Living for so long like that, even I wished that I had someone. Now that I think about it, I kind of understand what Kirito feels.

E: What do you mean by that?

(Subaru looks at Emilia)

S: Remember that time where I told you about my past a couple of days ago, Emilia-tan? Pushing my parents away because

Th: What kind of grandfather beats his own grandson just because he quit kendo?! Damn prick.

B: I know. That is something I hate hearing. On top of that, Kirito has guilt that his cousin may felt that she got robbed of her freedom.

 _ **The White Flower**_

Ra: Barusu, Kirito-sama has reached his final destination. Look at that.

L: Mission complete. This trip for them was a suc….

Th: Wait a minute, not so fast, Luctiana. There's that red-haired girl again. And she's the leader of the orange guild, Titan's Hand.

E: Orange 'guild'?!

B: I'm afraid so. In other words, her guild has murdered people. And they have chosen the wrong person to mess with. The clearing group is the most elite of the elite when it comes to beating SAO.

Just then, Kirito rushed his sword to Rosalia.

Tif: Oh shit! Kirito was about to off that girl. Damn, that was savage as heck. Trying to get the message across. What a brutal wakeup call for her. She dropped her weapon that quick.

S: Kirito heading back to the front lines. I could never be like him. And he's right, levels are merely just a number. But it's hard to think of one. I wonder what is going to happen in the next couple of episodes.

E: I'm just watching with you, Subaru, and with Rem and Ram as well. I think we should continue. Maybe Puck is watching the show with us.

L: Kirito is level 78. He's just stood there and tanked all the shots. The feeling of being overpowered. I wish I could experience that again.

B: Let's check the next episode to see what will happen to Kirito.

S: Very well then. I'll change the episode number on the laptop.

Before Subaru could change to the next episode, Luctiana wanted to offer Subaru another console. "I have also been considering adding something to the entertainment room here." Subaru raised an eyebrow at Luctiana. She merely continued. "I think you are going to like it. I will install a Nintendo Switch in this room." The confusion from Subaru's face became even larger. Judging by the name of the device, Subaru assumed it's another console. "Nintendo Switch? But the latest one was the Wii." Theo popped into the conversation. "The Switch is the newest console from them that you can take anywhere. And no, this isn't the Nintendo DS. This is the full on experience. There are some truly excellent solo and party games that you will love." Subaru's interest peaked at an all-time high. "Games?! You mean the usual Mario and Zelda?" Meanwhile, Rem and Emilia looked at each other, both of them having absolutely no idea what Subaru is talking about with Theo. The silver-haired elf shook his head. "Yes. Breath of the Wild, an open world Zelda, is one of those games. Mario Kart 8, and Smash Bros Ultimate are also two of best games on the Switch. We want to spice things up here a bit, so can we install a Switch in this room when the group wants to play?"

It only took two seconds for Subaru to give Luctiana the go ahead. Edan talked to Subaru in his head. _"Jeez, you already have so many electronics and distractions around you. Well, I guess it isn't too bad. This world lacks the fun factor. I'm looking forward to seeing you play."_ Subaru went back to his laptop and went on to the next episode.

 _ **Episode 5 – A Crime Within the Walls**_

 **56** **th** **Floor – Pani**

 **March 6** **th** **, 2024.**

S: 56th floor, huh? That girl, Asuna. Her outfit has completely changed from the last time we saw her.

Tif: Yeah, I also noticed that as well. She seems to be pretty high up in the guild ranks, if she is the one debriefing on the Field Boss.

Th: There's quite a lot of people in that room.

Re: She's already on the top guild. After Kirito-kun gave that advice to her, she joined the clearing guild.

E: She is truly amazing. I can tell that she takes her position seriously.

 _ **Floor 59 – Grass Area**_

L: My man Kirito, taking a nap while the others are clearing the dungeon. Sounds like something that Subaru-kun would do.

S: Don't lump me into the same category as Kirito! We are completely different from each other. I'm not going to laze around taking a nap in the daytime!

Th: Asuna is scolding him, of course. Every moment they spend there is time lost in the real world.

B: But Kirito also makes a good point that the 'real world' they are in now is in the VR world.

S: That's true when I think about it. It looks so real that it might as well be reality. I mean, it's so close to the real thing that it might as well be that thing.

S: Just like that Kirito went back to napping in the daylight.

E: The weather looks really nice, with a nice breeze and a clear sky. I wonder if there are also lesser spirits in that 'virtual' world of Subaru's.

Ra: Emilia-sama, how would I know? That 'place' is a simply a creation from another person. There could be anything there, place by the creator of that…realm.

 _ **Asuna falls asleep**_

(some loud giggling came from Subaru)

S: That's too funny! Asuna fell asleep in the grass as well, in the day time.

Emilia looked at the scene that played after Kirito woke up and also giggled as well.

Tif: I knew that was going to happen to Asuna. I felt it.

L: I hoped that Kirito would have drawn some whiskers on her face while she was talking a nap.

B: Doubt that Kirito would do that kind of thing. If he did it, he's going to have a rapier stuck right through him. Asuna is one of those types to go all out on those who dare to play a prank with her.

Re: The other people are giving them flak for that, Subaru-kun. I'm glad you aren't like that.

L: I like how Kirito is just staring at Asuna as she naps.

 _ **Dinner after sunset**_

S: Kirito staring at the sunset. I used to do that sometimes back in my world. My father would sometimes join me and gaze at the sun as people in the distance commute back from work. Oh, and besides, looks like Asuna is waking up at the moment.

L: She is so disoriented when she wakes up. I wonder if Emilia-sama is also like that as well.

E: Wh-. I guess. I'm pretty slow to wake as well, so Asuna-san is similar to me in that aspect.

Tif: She's completely shocked that she fell asleep. And nice detail they included as well with the drool on her face.

S: Oh crud, she pulled out her rapier!

B: That reaction from Kirito-sama never gets old. Looks like she will compensate him with one dinner from the store. All of the elves back home, if we had a virtual world like this, everyone would binge on deserts.

Tif: Aww…..Asuna going all tsundere on Kirito, and one meal. How nice of her. A dinner on the 57th floor.

 _ **Dining with Asuna**_

S: Look at the room, practically everyone knows her. She has really risen up that quickly.

Th: That can be either good or bad depending on the way you look at it.

L: Good. No risk of getting PK'd or damage in a city. At least the GM was that lenient.

E: 'Sleeping PK?' No….that's is just low. Subaru, that's awful.

S: Indeed. There are scummy players like that.

Re: Duel? As in an actual battle in that world?

B: Right, an actual duel. Normally, that would be fine. But you can also take damage during the fight, even in a safe area.

Ra: Balse, what in the world was that girl's scream?

 _ **A crime committed**_

E: Huh? Oh…..no! (hands clasped over mouth)

S: What the?! That guy is hanging with a noose and he has a sword in his chest. He's gonna die!

Tif: No! He shattered! Damn! Who did that to him?!

L: Asuna. Hahaha. She squeezed Kirito's hand.

S: They are already getting to the bottom of this. That girl with the purple blue hair, Yolko, is probably several years younger than me in real life. She seems like she also knows something about that 'murder' as well.

Th: We know his name is Caynz now, and also they were in the same guild as well.

Re: She is turning in for the night. Let's see what they are going to do next.

 _ **50**_ _ **th**_ _ **Floor and Interrogation**_

S: Agil is so chill, I think we would be friends if we meet.

L: I also like how he pulled Kirito down the moment he saw Asuna.

B: Premediated murder though, that's the worst of the worst. That blade though is made by Grimlock. We don't know if he is the actual murderer, but we should wait.

Tif: Kirito was going to do something kind of dumb, stabbing himself with that sword. I mean, they have no other leads, but still. Asuna is worried about Kirito though, which is cute.

E: Also a member of the same guild, huh? Things are getting interesting, Subaru.

S: The name of the guild, 'Golden Apple'. The leader, Griselda-san.

B: She left to auction the ring off, but never returned. And she also died.

Th: Having watched so many crime shows over the past two years thanks to Saito-sama, I believe the most likely suspect for the murder would be someone who held a grudge against her. Someone close to her. Someone in that Golden Apple clan.

S: Man, you are quite smart, already reading what Kirito was going to say.

Th: Grimlock-san was her in-game husband?! Damnit! That motherfucker probably killed her!

L: Schmitt joined that Divine Dragon Alliance thing, whatever it is.

S: This is not going to go well, Yolko is about to lose it.

(stabbing sound in the back)

E: (speechless)

Re: (speechless)

Ra: (speechless)

Tif: (speechless)

S: (speechless)

B: Yolko, stabbed right in the back. Wait a minute, she just turned and offed herself. What the hell is going on here?

S: How would I know? I'm just as lost as you.

Th: I have a hypothesis. What if she faked her death on purpose, to lure the true killer out?

E: Father, how can you know if that is true? Did you not see that Yolko shattered into pieces?

T: Like I said Emilia, this is only a hypothesis. But that seems to be a likely case. How else can you PK someone in a safe zone unless you have a duel? This must be some elaborate scheme.

Re: Subaru-kun, what Theo said might have some merit.

S: True. I can't think of why they want to do that though. The true perpetrator behind the murders would know about that as well, so that scenario would be unlikely. Anyways, the best move right now is to watch the next episode so we can figure out what is going on, and take a break after that.

Subaru went to his laptop to switch to the next episode. Since he used U-Block, there are no ads anywhere. Meanwhile, while the change was going on, Theo went to his S9 to text Arch on Discord.

 _Discord Chat Log_

Th: Arch, come in. We are going to bring back the elves from Elior Forest

Arch: Theo! So you have found that place! What are your plans for the future regarding them?

Th: Most likely, we elves are going to figure something out. And we are also going to propose to Subaru to begin modernization of this place. How are the elves doing over there?

Arch: They have been trying to find you guys the past week. They can't figure out where you went, and they are as stumped as ever. Louise and Saito are also trying to figure out where you went. Well, since Louise told me about that World Door ability of hers, we could use that to get to our original world.

Th: That would be nice. If you could relay that to the higher positioned elves, it would be most welcome.

Arch: Take care, my friend.

With that, the Discord chat ends.

 _ **Episode 6: Illusionary Avenger  
**_

S: There he is! The culprit! He's getting away at this instant!

L: Damn, he had a teleportation crystal. So much for that lead, I guess.

Tif: I don't blame Schmitt for shaking like that.

B: Ghost though? That wasn't a ghost. There was a male in that thing! It's for sure someone in the clan.

Tif: Goodness though, that sandwich looks delicious. I want to eat that so bad.

Th: The sandwich that shattered into pieces like that gave us a very important clue. It may not seem like it to your guys, but that means those 'murders' that you saw happen didn't happen at all. It was a scheme. Don't believe me? Keep watching and see what happens next.

E: I don't like where this is going, Theo. Wait, we are in the 19th floor again.

 _ **19**_ _ **th**_ _ **Floor**_

S: So Schmitt got a letter from someone to put the ring into the guild bank.

B: Most likely an unwilling pawn. After all, he never intended to help the murderer.

L: Yolko and Caynz recorded the confession. And it's true, objects can only expire in a safe zone, unless a duel is initiated. They used a crystal to teleport away.

S: Now if you think about it, Yolko-san didn't even show her back even once. There was probably that dagger that dropped her durability of the armor. And just like that, she also used teleport as well.

Tif: Stunned? But who are those three guys there in the hoods? They are all carrying weapons of sorts.

Th: Most likely, those are the PK guilds.

Re: PK guilds?

Th: Player killing guilds, where they kill other players for fun. Don't really understand it, but some people get the satisfaction from killing in the game, which is dangerous. What the _fuck_ is wrong with them? Seriously, killing other people. They must be sad, little pathetic outcasts on Earth.

L: And here comes Kirito-kun to the rescue. Whew, good thing they left.

Tif: The fact that Grimlock was opposed to making weapons to set for the murder scheme is highly suspect.

S: That son of a…ARGH! He did it, I have no doubt! Someone would figure it out.

 _ **Kirito and Asuna**_

S: When Kirito talks about marriage, Asuna goes all tsundere again. Especially with the kicks.

Th: Storage sharing is really convenient though.

L: Damn though, Grimlock wanted to turned their scheme against them and kill them all in cold blood. What a waste of human existence. Seriosuly, why do such things to your own wife?

S: Had no choice but to kill her?! What kind of shitty excuse is that?!

Th: I knew it! She was his real life wife too? But according to him, she changed in the VR world. She became more animated in the VR world.

B: Locking Yukko away to remain immortal in my memories? Fucking asshole.

S: Did that fucking piece of crap excuse of a human didn't know about how he just committed a murder for hire in the game!? Scum. Not only that, but he also killed her in real life too! A MURDER! That guy can go to hell for all I care. And I don't give a damn about that self-pity remorse bullshit.

Re: Good riddance, Subaru-kun, that guy is taken away.

 _ **Daylight**_

Th: Well, if I found a side of my spouse that never existed, I'll love it as part of her too. I mean, aren't you constantly discovering new things in marriage as well?

L: I guess you can say something like that, Theo.

S: Heh. So Kirito hasn't added Asuna to the friend list. Don't you notice something in this episode Theo?

Th: What are you talking about? You mean the bubbling attraction between Asuna and Kirito?

Tif: I can see something like that, you know. Hey, that ghost of Yukko that showed up as Asuna-sama and Kirito-kun were about to leave. What was that thing?

B: Probably just a manifestation of her emotional database stored in the system.

S: At least she can finally rest in peace, knowing that the real killer is brought to justice in the VR world. Well, I guess that concludes the watch section for today. Rem, Ram, Emilia-tan, did you enjoy the episodes today?

All of the nodded.

Re: I am surprised by the twist and turns that I am seeing.

E: To see art being brought to light, I can see why this would be popular back on Earth, Subaru.

Subaru got up to turn off the television and encouraged everyone else to exit the room. Within the next few minutes, only Subaru and the elves from Zero no Tsukaima were there. Subaru turned to Theo, who was standing by the window to looking out into the field of grass and trees.

"Anything from that world of yours? From either the people or the elves? Please, if you have anything to hide, don't hesitate to say it out loud right now. We need all of the help that we can get here."

Theo gave a sigh as he turned towards Subaru. "Please listen very well, Subaru. There is something that is quite important to know right now. It has to do with the elves in that other world that Theo and the others came from. An old friend of mine, Arch, is going to try to go to the elves to open a portal to this place. Apparently, they have been looking for us over the past week, and are getting desperate. We could also use more elves here to speed up get the people here brought up to modern times."

 _ **Switch and Smash Ultimate**_

Subaru nodded as Luctiana and Bidashal materialized the Switch console and four Pro Controllers. They hooked up the Switch with both the HDMI and charging USB-C cord. The games that were included were Mario Kart 8, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

"Good. That should speed things up then. Also, aren't you also going to Elior Forest to try to unfreeze the elves? Your magic might exceed this world's magic. Those elves there are your people, so you should try to find a way back there as quickly as possible."

Theo shrugged. "I would like to, but we need a map so we could get back there. Anyways, look at what both Luctiana and Bidashal installed. And jeez, Tiffania is already on that."

Subaru looked to where the 4K LG TV was, and noticed there was a new game console under the TV with four controllers, two the left, and two to the right. "Ah, is that the new Switch console you talked about earlier, right? Seems like you guys want me to play a game with you. That's fine by me? What are we playing? I have plenty of time to kill right now."

Luctiana winked her face. "Super Smash Bros Ultimate. I assume you know what series is. Unless you have been playing nothing but that shitty screen with the Famicom and the Genesis?"

Subaru got annoyed at that statement. "What's wrong with that anyways? I had no need for a screen back there. I spend most of my days in that room surfing on the internet. Anyways, how are the reviews for the game?"

Luctiana got even more excited at the opportunity to square off in a video game battle. "It's one of the best games on Switch, the best entry in the Smash series. I heard there are over 70 characters to choose from, including the DLCs characters. Speaking of which, I'll get the console booted up."

Subaru watched as the Nintendo Switch logo popped up and Luctiana went through the normal procedure of getting Super Smash Bros Ultimate started. "And it's already in Japanese, how convenient. And seems like she knows Japanese as well. I guess that makes sense since she had two years in that other world of sorts."

Luctiana continued. "We'll start off with a three stock battle, set on an Omega stage. No items, so this will be a test of skill on a 7 minute time limit. Subaru, let's get started. I want to see how much you are going to suck in Smash."

Subaru walked over to the leather seats and grabbed the controller. "This Pro Controller by Nintendo feels really good in my hands. None of the buttons are out of reach. I think I can get the hang of this, despite not playing Smash a lot. I used to play it a long time ago with my elementary school friends."

Edan once again made his entrance. He knew what was going to happen to Subaru. "You say that, but I know for sure that you are going to get your ass handled to you. And please, don't spike the controller into the ground to salt. Tiffania and Luctiana won't like that one bit."

An urked Subaru raised his fist at the teasing contracted spirit of his. "Shut up. I won't do anything stupid as throwing a tantrum over a video game. Like I am going to in the first place."

Tiffania raised her eyebrow, while Luctiana kept pushing Subaru once again. "Says the kid who threw the tantrum at Emilia and saying that she should owe a debt that she should repay."

Subaru sighed. "Come on, give me a break for that time. I was stressed quite a bit there, and my mind wasn't in the best places. After falling to Julius, I was blinded by the isekai hero going into another world bullshit, but that's because I was nothing back on Earth. You know I didn't really mean that, right?"

Theo looked at the character selection screen. "My goodness though, the amount of characters you can choose in Smash is freaking massive. I wonder which fighter is Subaru going to go with for the battle against Luctiana?"

Subaru shook his head in disbelief. "Damn, where to even begin with in the first place? Who the hell do I even pick in the first place? I'll guess I'll go with Mario. Pretty much everyone knows him in Japan."

Luctiana choose Marth as her fighter. "Fire Emblem character is the one I am going to pick. Good luck Subaru. Of course, I'm probably not going to go easy on you, just because you haven't played it much. I'm going stop you into the ground so hard, that Emilia-sama is going to be disappointed in you, Subaru."

That got Subaru riled up for the match, as he is quite completive when pushed. It all came from his younger days back on Earth. He wanted to beat Luctiana in Smash Bros."We'll see about that, Luctiana!"

Unfortunately, it won't not turn out the way that Subaru wanted to. In fact, Tiffania, Theo, and Bidashal simply watched Subaru getting pummeled by Luctiana. Everytime Subaru tried to do damage, Luctiana would immediately punish him with a grab, which only led to Subaru being combed to high percentages. Subaru would manage to get a few hits it during the battle, but his inexperience often cost him a stock, mostly by failing to get up the stage after getting knocked off, or mistiming and getting flown out to the blast zone. Within the first three minutes, Subaru had already lost two stocks, and Luctiana was sitting at around 65% damage, with no stocks lost.

Subaru, being on the edge of defeat, began to vent his frustration. "Damnit! I'm so bad at this game! Shit! Can you go easy on me at least?"

In a matter of a minute, Subaru lost the match, and he was rolling his eyes in the process. Luctiana on the other hand had a big smirk on her face, as if she was proud of beating on a noob. "This is the completive scene for Smash back on Earth. You are already getting passivate about it. After all, it must have been quite a step up from your previous games back at home. Don't fret too much about losing quite often, most players start out that way. It takes quite a bit of practice to rise up in the rankings."

Subaru nodded. "Smash is one of those games that you must have. Paying tribute to all of the video game characters that kids like me grew up with. I bet my former friends have this game as well. I should have brought a better console back in my own world, rather than just sticking with the shitty Famicom and Genesis that I had. All right, time to give this another go."

Another match begins, and it was mostly the same result. However Subaru managed to SD himself off the stage, which cause Luctiana and Tiffania to burst out laughing at Subaru's misfortune. The laughing was so loud that Emilia could hear it in her room. Puck was also confused at what is going on. _"Seems like Subaru and the others are having a really fun time in that room, Lia."_

Emilia slowly nodded as she kept listening to the howling laugher. Subaru raised a voice against them as he struggled against trying not to lose early. "It's not a given that I'll be a god at this game. I'm good at single player games, remember?!"

The next moment, the finishing zoom showed as Subaru got down smashed into the blast zone by Luctiana's Chrom. He could only stare at the screen in shock as he got absolutely wrecked once again. "You have got to be shitting me. I couldn't even take a single damn stock for crying out loud. That's it, I'm going to change my fighter again. Screw it, I'm picking Pikachu. You are going to feel the pain."

Over the next hour or so, the battles against Subaru and Luctiana continued. Slowly but surely, Subaru managed to take his first stock off Luctiana when she made the mistake of rolling right into Subaru's forward smash attack, sending her fighter off the blast zone. "Finally, I took a stock of you." Luctiana applauded Subaru for his progress. "Very good, Subaru-sama! But you'll need more than just that to beat an opponent in Smash!" Luctiana went all tryhard on Subaru, wiping him out within a minute.

Subaru shook hands with Luctiana after the match, and they all discussed on what to do tomorrow. Subaru told the group that he wanted to take a break from watching Sword Art Online for two days, to focus on the elves located in Elior Forest, and planning to bring a massive group of elves from Zero no Tsukaima. As dinner rolled around and flew by, Subaru went back to his room to catch on manga. He prefers to read pirated manga on his desktop, a continuation of his habits back from his original world.

 _ **Turning in for the night**_

Edan on the other hand was looking at the story as well, although he couldn't understand it. _"After seeing what anime is, I can't stop binge watching the thing."_ Subaru had a small smile on his face. "This is the joy of my own world, Earth. The next several days are going to be busy with planning. Mostly going to be focusing on the elves from over on the other side and development over here, led by Theo."

Subaru went out as usual to see his beloved Emilia-tan, then quickly made his way back to bed, around 11:00 PM. As he stared into the celling, he thought of all the fun things that the Zero no Tsukaima group brought with them, and how more lively the mansion got. Subaru closed his eyes, turning in for the night. The first phase to modernization of Subaru's Mansion in Re: Zero is soon about to be discussed in the following two days.


End file.
